Operation Rodney and Jennifer
by DaniWilder
Summary: A series of stories about various team members and friends helping Rodney and Jennifer get together. McKeller as always.
1. Cadman and the Little Green Eyed Monster

**I don't own anything MGM does.**

**Spoilers-Anything in Season 5 before Brain Storm is fair game.**

**A/N: This idea just came to me recently. It has not been beta-tested.**

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* * *

**"He just won't take no for an answer and it's starting to annoy me." Doctor Jennifer Keller, the Chief Medical Officer of Atlantis, stated to her friends with a heavy sigh. "I mean he's handsome, smart, and very charming, but he's just not my type. I am **definitely** not the type to go for the "Lady's Man".

"I think he's hot." Major Anne Teldy said putting down her cup of coffee.

"Well, Anne, why don't you take him off my back?" Jennifer laughed as she drank her orange juice. The young physician closed her eyes as the tang and flavor of oranges overwhelmed her taste buds and slid refreshingly down her throat. She indulged in orange juice only once a week when she had breakfast with the girls.

Most mornings, she had breakfast with Rodney. Aware of Rodney's severe allergy to citrus she would not take any chances of him being exposed, so Jennifer would go without her favorite drink to protect the man she loved. Rodney was, of course, unaware of all this. Most mornings, he shoveled his food in over the course of fifteen minutes with little in the way of conversation. The CMO did not care, however. Any time spent with the cranky scientist was worth it to her.

The attendees of the "Girl's Breakfast" as they called it changed from week to week depending on missions and such. This week it was a full house: Major Anne Teldy, Lieutenant Laura Cadman, Amelia Banks, Doctor Amanda Cole, Teyla with Torren, Sergeant Dusty Mehra, and Nurse Marie Cho. They were all Jennifer's friends and she felt at ease with them, so she revealed things she would not normally.

Her problem with Doctor Devin Cooke, the new head of archaeology, seemed like something her friends could help her with. Since Jennifer was a genius and spent the first twenty-five years of her life in school, she did not have a lot of experience with dealing with this type of situation. The handsome, British archaeologist immediately started hitting on Jennifer when they met a month ago. Jennifer was flattered at first, but she knew enough about men to know that he only wanted one thing and would move on once he got it. Not to mention Jennifer was hopelessly in love with Rodney.

"Just complain to his boss." Laura added hiding her smirk. Doctor Cooke's ultimate boss was none other than Doctor Rodney McKay. Archaeology was part of Ancient Technology under Radek Zelenka, which put it in Rodney's department. _I would pay money to watch Jennifer discuss this with McKay._

Jennifer, reacting just as Laura expected her to, got red and flustered. "I can't … I couldn't possibly… trouble… No… No this is ridiculous! None of you can come up with an idea to help me?" Her eyes were begging them.

"Jennifer," Teyla began as she passed Torren to Amelia, "Laura's idea has merit. Doctor Zelenka is a friend of yours and I'm certain he would tell Doctor Cooke you are not interested."

Jennifer was horrified. She could not go to Radek with this. The eccentric, Czech scientist would have no idea how to handle it. "No, this is not a problem for Radek."

"What about McKay?" Maria added. "He's in charge of that whole group. I know you and he are close friends. I cannot believe that he would allow one of his staff to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I guess I'm not making myself clear," The physician tried again as her face flamed red. "I don't want him fired for sexual harassment. He's not that bad. I'm just not interested in dating or hooking up or whatever it's called lately."

Laura Cadman knew Jennifer's reluctance to go to Rodney with this had more to do with her feelings toward Rodney than any embarrassment about the persistent Brit. "You could tell him you already have a boyfriend."

"What?" Jennifer raised an eyebrow.

"That's a great idea, Lieutenant," Amanda added. A chorus of "great idea, Laura" and "that should work" rang out around the table. Amelia was the only one who kept quiet.

"Uh… I guess I could… tell him I have a boyfriend on Earth." The more Jennifer thought about it, the better she liked the idea. She was starting to imagine what her imaginary man would be like. "I think that might work."

"No, I don't think a boyfriend on Earth would work. If this guy is really persistent, he will need to **see** you with your boyfriend." Laura said with a look of innocence on her face. Anne and Dusty were trying not to smile as their eyes met across the table. They knew what Laura was getting at.

"What! There is no one on Atlantis that would **pretend** to be my boyfriend." Jennifer knew that was not true. She constantly had young Marines and old ones for that matter hitting on her. She also had a suspicion that Ronon would jump at the chance.

"Surely there is someone who would help you out. You'd only need to be seen with him in public settings." Laura added, "You could eat together several times a week. Perhaps go to movie night together once in a while. And get your friends to spread the word that you and this person are dating."

"I think that should do it," Dusty said with a nod of affirmation.

"And where do I find this person?" Jennifer knew she was in trouble. She asked for help, received it and now needed to follow it or find her own way out. _What am I going to do? Who could I possibly get? Maybe Lorne? _

"I can help," offered Laura.

"Who do you have in mind, Laura?" asked Marie.

"No, no, no. I don't want **Laura** setting me up!" Jennifer was terrified of what the tap-dancing Marine would do to her.

"Don't worry, Jennifer, I'll be kind," Laura said with a wicked grin on her face. _I know exactly what to do and it will solve a bunch of problems._

At this, Amelia got up, gave Torren back to Teyla, and took her tray to dump it. She had an annoyed expression on her face. "Something is up with Amelia lately," Jennifer confided in the others. "She doesn't talk to me at all anymore. I don't know what I did."

Laura knew exactly what was going on. Amelia was jealous of Ronon's crush on Jennifer_. I'm sure Amelia wants Jennifer to go after Doctor Cooke and stay away from Ronon._

"I will arrange everything. Your _boyfriend_ will meet you for dinner in the mess hall this evening at _1900_. I will also make sure Doctor Cooke is present so he sees the two of you."

"Laura?" The resident medical genius asked with great concern in her voice. "Please tell me what you are up to."

The explosive's expert eyed her friend and only grinned wider. "Trust me!"

_How many times have those been famous last words?_ Jennifer stood, disposed of her tray and left the mess hall looking defeated.

"Don't look so glum, beautiful." A thick British accent spoke from close behind Jennifer's left shoulder.

She jumped, startled that she let Devin Cooke sneak up on her. "I'm in a hurry and can't talk." Jennifer picked up the pace heading toward the infirmary.

"That is quite alright. I can walk and talk at the same time." Devin draped his arm around Jennifer's shoulders. At this, she quickly side-stepped out of his hold on her and turned to face him.

"Listen, I have tried to politely tell you I am not interested." Jennifer tried to sound forceful.

"You and I both know that the _chase_ makes the end result even _sweeter_," Devin smiled his sexy grin and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Leave me alone or I'll tell my boyfriend and you don't want to cross him!" Jennifer said a little louder than she wanted to. Luckily, there were few people close to them in the corridor.

Devin actually looked taken aback. When he had asked about Doctor Keller everyone said she was single and not seeing anyone. There were many rumors but nothing definitive. "Boyfriend?"

"That's right. We're having dinner tonight and if you apologize, I won't tell him."

"Well, I never steal from my colleagues. I will go so far as to apologize to your boyfriend for this transgression in person. I will see you this evening." Devin bowed slightly to Jennifer and walked away.

_Wow. That's all I needed to do. I could have done that a month ago. Of course now, "my boyfriend" needs to exist. _Jennifer continued on her way to the infirmary. She was going to call Laura and tell her about the encounter. _Perhaps this will all end quickly_.

Standing unseen to Jennifer and Devin was the smartest man in two galaxies. _Jennifer had a boyfriend. Who was it? _

Rodney had been in love with Jennifer since the moment he met her. He was too scared to ever do anything about it, but he was at least heartened to know she did not have anyone else. Apparently, he had been wrong. The head scientist racked his brain to think of who it could be. He ate at least once a day with Jennifer when he was on base and went to the mess hall. _She never mentioned a boyfriend._ They never really talked about relationships since he broke up with Katie, though. He knew a lot of men on the base wanted to go out with her, but he thought she turned them all down. _Of course she turned them down; she had a boyfriend, idiot._ Rodney turned from the mess hall toward his lab. He had lost his appetite and did not think it would ever come back.

* * *

**1900 Hours

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**

"Hey, did you hear the news?" An excited young, black-haired physicist said to her colleague in Rodney's lab. "Doctor Keller has a secret boyfriend."

"What?" Her brunette friend commented back. "Keller? I thought she was with Major Lorne?"

"I don't think its Lorne. Apparently, they are having dinner tonight, so everyone can see."

"Don't you have anything better to do than gossip! On second thought, get out of here for the night!" Rodney yelled from his computer at the back of the lab area. Radek jumped and dropped his tablet. Another doctor, this one male, came rushing in out of breathe.

"Did you guys hear? It's Sheppard! Come on they're in the mess hall making out!"

"What!" The brunette said in a shocked voice.

"It won't last long that's for sure," the black-haired physicist continued as all of them ignored their fuming boss in the back of the lab, "he will take what he wants and move on."

"Yeah, but what fun in the taking. I hate blondes!" This was the last comment heard before the door closed.

To say Rodney was in shock was not even close to capturing the feelings and emotions that went through him. _John Sheppard. That's impossible. He has repeatedly said she is like a sister; a hot sister, but still a sister._ Rodney looked at Radek with a dangerous look in his eyes. Jennifer and Radek were close and the Czech scientist should have said something.

The smaller man swallowed and returned Rodney's stare. "I don't believe it. Jennifer has never mentioned Sheppard in any way other than as a colleague. I don't believe they have ever had a conversation outside of the mess hall, infirmary, or a social setting." Radek tried to smile down the "death glare" from his boss. "It must be gossip."

"Well, there's one way to find out. Let's go to the mess hall," Rodney slammed his computer closed and left his area so rapidly his stool crashed to the floor making Radek jump again. The irate genius waited for Radek to join him on the way to the mess hall. _So help me, if it's really Sheppard, I __**will**__ kill him.

* * *

_To say Jennifer was uncomfortable would be a grave understatement. The CMO and Head of Atlantis Military were seated in a visible spot in the middle of the mess hall near the balcony. John had his left arm draped across the seat behind Jennifer and his right foot on his left knee. He had the air of someone "holding court" because Teyla, Carson Beckett, and Major Lorne were seated with them talking and laughing.

Jennifer tried to look happy, but it was difficult. _How could Laura pick Sheppard? No one would believe he and I were more than friends even after the kiss when we got here._ A kiss that left Jennifer feeling like she just made out with a brother.

When Laura suggested this whole idea, Jennifer thought Laura would pick Evan Lorne or perhaps even Rodney. The physician could easily have pretended to be dating either of them. Lorne was her partner-in-crime when it came to practical jokes and she was totally at ease around him. Most of the base already thought they were a couple, so it would not have been hard. Rodney was the man she loved and dating him was an unfulfilled dream. _But no, Cadman had to choose John Sheppard. The last man I would ever be interested in._

Jennifer's thoughts were interrupted by John's sudden kiss. He just leaned over and kissed her. _I can't take this anymore_. Jennifer was already pushing away from John when a furious voice cried out across the crowded mess hall.

"Get off her! She is so much better than you it would take years to explain it!" A red-faced, fist-clenching, ready-to-fight Rodney McKay stomped across the mess hall. Everyone in his path cleared out with some tripping over each other and almost falling.

"Rodney, nice to see you," John said in a calm, cheery voice. He still held his arm around Jennifer, who was too horrified to look away as Rodney approached the table. "You're a little early for dinner. Don't you usually eat around 2100?"

"Get your hands off her!" Rodney growled. "I'm not going to tell you again!"

_Why can't the Wraith attack right now or someone need me for an emergency surgery? How could I ever listen to Laura Cadman? I'm such an idiot_. Jennifer dared to raise her eyes to Rodney who was standing next to the still-reclining Colonel. She saw that Rodney's face was scarlet and his eyes, which usually flew around rapidly as ideas danced through his mind, stared unblinking at John. A wave of fear for Colonel Sheppard passed through her. In her two years of knowing the cantankerous physicist, she never saw him so angry and determined._ He's upset because I'm with Sheppard? Why? _Jennifer's demeanor changed as she sat up straight and focused all her attention on the man she loved.

When Rodney entered the mess hall, he was angry. Normally he would never mention his feelings toward Jennifer and his own insecurities regarding them to anyone. After seeing Sheppard lean over to kiss _his_ Jennifer, he lost it and everything on his mind came out through his mouth.

"A guy like me can only ever dream about finding a woman half as wonderful as Jennifer. I know she'll never feel the same way about me, but I can't stand by and let you _use_ her. She doesn't deserve that, John!" Rodney flung the name out like it was a dirty word.

Jennifer should be outraged at being discussed like some piece of property, but she knew Rodney well enough to read between the lines. _He cares! He cares enough about me to be concerned about my love life. Maybe what he said about loving me while infected with the parasite was true._ A smile began to blossom on Jennifer's face and she started to rise to stop this from going too far.

John got up first. "You seriously need to calm down, McKay."

"Calm down! I'm just getting started. You claim to be my friend, yet you're taking the only woman I ever loved away from me before..."

"Rodney! Did you just say you loved me?" The voice that haunts Rodney's dreams spoke. His heart's desire stepped in front of John and looked up at him with her perfect smile and hopeful eyes. All the bluster, all the snark, everything was gone from Rodney's mind at that moment. _Oh crap! Say something!_

"Ah… I… um… Jennifer, I…" Rodney who was moments ago ranting and raving was now speechless.

Jennifer was filled with deep love and affection for the man before her. Within moments he went from a murderous rage directed at his best friend to a defeated little boy caught with his hands in the cookie jar. _He loved her! It was true! I'd love to hear it again, but this will be too much for him. _Because she loved him and knew him well, she was not going to hold out for another declaration in front of their friends and colleagues.

"I love you, too," She said as she launched herself into Rodney's arms and kissed him with all her heart.

After some time, both Rodney and Jennifer became aware of applause and cheers echoing around them. It was quite loud to break through the love-induced haze that surrounded them. They reluctantly separated and stared into each other's eyes a moment, both stunned and elated at the same time.

"You really love me?" Rodney asked still not quite believing that his dream-girl loved him.

"Come on, genius, let's get out of here so I can show you how much I love you," Jennifer said quietly with a sly grin on her face.

Rodney grabbed her hand and they started to leave only to be stopped by Sheppard. "Jennifer, did you just _use me_ to make McKay jealous?"

"No…" began Jennifer only to be cut off by the laughter-filled voice of Laura Cadman.

"I did, sir. Someone had to take the initiative to get these two geniuses together since they can't figure anything out for themselves." The young Marine came in from the balcony with Devin Cooke in tow.

Jennifer should have been angry with Laura and would probably tell her off in the future, but the only thing on her mind was spending time with the man she loved. "I assume Doctor Cooke is also…"

"Part of my plan? Yes. We called it Operation Rodney and Jennifer. Since you look like you want to drag McKay out of here and…" Laura raised her eyebrows and smirked as she left the sentence hanging. "I'd say it was successful."

"Some day Cadman…" Jennifer started.

"But not today," Rodney growled as he pushed her toward the exit.

* * *

**Much later that night - Rodney's quarters**

* * *

"I love you." Rodney said for about the hundredth time as he reached across Jennifer to kill the light.

"I love you, too." Jennifer replied in return as she snuggled into his arms and drifted off to sleep with a smile. _I will never get tired of hearing it._

_

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_**A/N I appreciate any feedback. Let me know if you want to see more. Thanks!**

**I don't know Marie the nurse's last name. If she has one, I'm sorry I missed it.**


	2. Rodney McKay, MD?

**I don't own anything MGM does.**

**Spoilers-Anything before mid-Season 5.**

**A/N: Thanks to the reviewers. Here is the next installment.**

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"Doctor Beckett, what a surprise? I did not know you would be attending this meeting?" Said Richard Woolsey looking across the briefing room as Carson Beckett and Doctor Amanda Cole entered.

"Where's Jennifer?" Rodney demanded looking up from his tablet at Carson.

"Doctor Keller is confined to quarters due to an illness. She should be back on duty in a couple of days," Carson stated taking Jennifer's normal seat next to Rodney.

"What's wrong with her?" Rodney could not hide the concern in his voice. His team got back in the morning from a long trading negotiation and Jennifer was on duty for their post-mission physical. _She seemed like her normal, beautiful, happy self_

"Don't worry Doctor McKay; Doctor Keller is not contagious. I know you were one of her last patients, but you will be fine," Doctor Cole said in a weary voice.

"What _exactly _is wrong with her?" Richard Woolsey asked leaning forward and looking at the second in command of the medical team.

"You know we cannot discuss someone's condition, Mister Woolsey," Carson reminded him. "I _can _say she is not contagious and needs a lot of rest. She should not be disturbed for a few days." Carson's eyes glanced for a second at Rodney seated next to him.

"Why didn't you keep her in the infirmary so you can keep an eye on her?" The Head of Science and Research glared at Carson as he got more agitated. "You used to keep me in the infirmary for the _littlest _thing! If it's not serious, why is she on restricted duty?"

Atlantis's original CMO tried not to laugh. "We can assure ya Rodney that ya will be fine and were not at risk of contracting anything. _Relax_." Carson spoke as if to a child.

"What… I'm not… Not me… It's just… I'm…" The arrogant physicist could not finish what he wanted to say without giving away his feelings for Jennifer. _This is just like the incident after Michael's lab. They're leaving her alone.

* * *

_

After the briefing, Rodney headed toward the mess hall. He radioed Radek to tell him he was taking the rest of the day to work on a special project. That project was to take care of the woman he loved. Many have said Rodney McKay only cared for others when it served his needs and they used to be right. Since coming to Atlantis Rodney has learned about friendship, family and love. He has his team and Jennifer to thank for the kinder, gentler McKay that he was trying to be. He did not always succeed and if he was being honest with himself, failed miserably most of the time.

Once in the mess hall, Rodney went to the kitchen to talk to the chef. As soon as he mentioned he needed food for Jennifer, the cranky scientist ended up leaving with a tray of chicken soup, juice, sandwiches, fruit cups, blue Jell-o and various other desserts.

* * *

Jennifer felt tired and was run down, but was not really sick. Amanda and Carson ganged up on her because she was working long hours and not taking "adequate" time off. Both swore they would report her as medically unfit to work if she did not hole herself up in her quarters for at least two days. Since Amanda was second in command, she had the authority to remove the CMO from duty. As Carson was an adviser he was totally outside Jennifer's control. _There is so much research I could do in two full days without patients. They could have just taken me off rotation._

The annoyed physician turned on the water in her shower. She wished she still had a bathtub. Lying in warm water would ease her tired muscles and help her sleep, but her bathtub was given up along with windows and a larger room after she was infected during the rescue of Sheppard's team. It was impossible for her to sleep in those quarters, so she got a nice new bed and her pick of available rooms from Woolsey to make up for the fact that he almost left her to die. The medical genius picked this room because it was one level below the infirmary and near the science labs of one Rodney McKay.

Meredith Rodney McKay had become a fixture in Jennifer's life these last two years. The beautiful, young physician spent any free time she could with Rodney: having meals together, sitting with him at movie night and near him in meetings. The proximity to his lab was the main reason she took this smaller room with no bathtub. Jennifer turned off the shower, toweled off, put on her nightgown with matching robe, opened the door to her bedroom and screamed. The man she loved stood in her room.

"Jennifer!" A startled scientist yelped as he quickly set the tray down on her desk after nearly dropping it. "I was wondering where you were. I… ah… I rang and knocked but you… didn't answer… so I… uh… ah… thought something might be wrong and… uh... used my gene to open your door."

Rodney turned bright red and tried to look at something other than Jennifer who was clad in a pink bathrobe. _Don't look at her._ _No, don't look at the bed. Look at the walls._ He admonished himself. The site of the woman he loved obviously just getting out the shower was enough to turn him into a drooling teenager.

"I'm sorry to scare you. I heard from Carson that you were… sick and confined to your room. So… Ah… I got you some… you know… chicken soup and… ah… other food. I didn't know if you were stuck in bed… or not. Obviously not if you're…"

Jennifer was shocked to find her night-time fantasy standing in the flesh in her room. _ I can't believe Rodney willingly came to the room of a sick person.__ If only I were as forward as Cadman, I'd find a way to keep him here._

"Sorry I screamed. I didn't expect to find a man… I mean… _you_ in my quarters," she stammered unable to take her eyes off him as he nervously shifted his weight. His brilliant blue eyes were darting around and avoiding hers. "I _am _wearing clothing, so you can look at me unless my bathrobe offends you in some way." Jennifer said lightly. _You spend lots of time with him. Calm down!_

Rodney smiled shyly and met her gaze. She was the most beautiful woman he ever knew. His eyes roamed over her body as outlined by the silk bathrobe "You look… hot in pink."

"Oh, wait… is that insulting? I didn't mean… I meant you're... Uh… I… I'll just go," Rodney rambled as his shoulders slumped and his eyes fell to the floor. He turned toward the door. "I hope you enjoy the food. Carson wouldn't tell me how badly you were sick, so I have a variety of things."

_What an idiot! Hot in pink! You complete moron. Get out before she throws the food at you._ Rodney continued to mentally berate himself as he reached to open the door.

"Wait! I'm not insulted and there seems to be plenty to eat for both of us. Would you join me? I really would love your company," The look of despair that Jennifer saw on the face of the "smartest man in two galaxies" gave her the courage to be a more forward than her usual nature. _He thinks I'm hot?_

"Really?" Rodney turned back toward her. _Don't read into it. She wants company and that's it._

"Of course I want your company. We always eat together. My day would be ruined if I couldn't have one meal with you," Jennifer moved toward the desk to pick up the tray while a pink blush spread across her cheeks. _Did I just tell Rodney eating with him makes my day?_

"You sit down and rest. You're the one who's sick. I'll take care of it," Rodney said as he quickly intercepted and guided her toward the bed with a hand on her shoulder. The contact sent a jolt like a Wraith stun weapon up Rodney's arm.

"You're so sweet. Thank you, _Doctor_ McKay." Her mega-watt smile shined at Rodney.

The astrophysicist grinned from ear to ear thrilled that he made Jennifer smile. For once he had a good idea at the right time; Jennifer needed someone to take care of her. The woman who cared for all of them to the point of exhaustion needed _him_. _Well, not me specifically._

Rodney assisted Jennifer getting comfortable in bed by shifting pillows and adjusting her blanket. He pulled a small night stand next to her to set the tray on. When he reached for her desk chair, Jennifer said, "Why don't you sit next to me?" _Did I just say that? _

Rodney's eyebrows flew up his forehead as he stared at Jennifer. _Did she just ask me to sit on her bed? _"Uh, sure… okay." _Play it cool, McKay. Stop acting like a virginal sixteen year old._

Jennifer slid over a bit to make room for Rodney to sit next to her legs. The physician was delighted to find a variety of sandwiches, vegetables, a cup of chicken noodle soup and fruit cup on the tray. There was even a bottle of orange juice in a tightly sealed bag. She held it up with a raised eyebrow for Rodney to see.

Rodney was having enough trouble breathing and keeping his eyes off her to come up with a coherent thought. He had sat next to her in the mess hall, at movie night, and in meetings so their closeness should not be having this effect. The scent of her shampoo intoxicated him. Being alone in her quarters, sitting on her bed with her in _perhaps_ only a bathrobe turned his thoughts in a direction taken only in the middle of the night. He was losing the fight to keep his eyes from drifting down to her chest following the V formed at the neck of her bathrobe.

He cleared his throat trying to think of how to speak. _You are a genius, you can do this._ "The chief… I mean chef... actually is a Chief, right?" Rodney paused because the chef _was _in the military to glance at her face. Jennifer nodded as she tried to hide her laughter. "Well… she said you loved orange juice, so... I had her... bag it in case it... spilled."

Jennifer hated when men looked her over, but Rodney's wandering eyes only seemed to cause heat to pool within her. "That's very brave of you; carrying a poison to my quarters. I promise not to open it while you are here." Her own eyes slowly traveled over her lunch companion noting the red stain on his cheeks, beautiful blue eyes, which were now locked on her face, and slightly opened mouth. It was Rodney's mouth that captured her attention. How she longed to kiss him just once. It haunted her dreams and caused her to wet her lips.

Rodney was struggling not to lose control, but when he saw her tongue flick over her lips he lost it. He leaned forward, as he longed to do since they met, and pressed his lips to hers.

The spark that shot through both of them seemed to wipe all insecurities out of their brains. Jennifer's arms quickly shot around Rodney's neck as his hands slid around her waist. Not thinking about the fact that Jennifer was supposed to be ill; Rodney deepened the kiss and slid his tongue over her lips. Both were so caught up in the sudden unleashing of their pent-up desire for each other that they did not hear the door chime repeatedly.

Carson Beckett knew Rodney rushed off to take care of Jennifer once he heard about her _illness_. It was part of the doctor's master plan to get them together. He watched them both battle their insecurities about sharing their feelings and felt he owed it to them to help. Not sure how Rodney would handle being a care-giver, Carson thought it best to check up on them after a little while. The site before Carson's eyes was beyond anything he could have imagined; Rodney and Jennifer were kissing passionately.

"What's going on? I thought Rodney would bring ya some soup. I had no idea I'd be walking in on a scene from some romance novel," Carson turned away from his friends smiling broadly.

"How the _hell_ did you get in here, Carson?" Rodney growled as he fought to regain some control as he pulled away from Jennifer.

"Medical override."

Jennifer was trying very hard to get her breathing under control as she felt a scarlet wave wash over her face. _Oh, I will never live this down._ Although _this_ Carson and she had lost almost two years of friendship, she still considered him a close friend. She felt like her big brother caught her making out.

_Rodney is never going to talk to me again after this embarrassment._ This thought sent fear through Jennifer.

Rodney was furious with himself. _How could I lose control like this and take advantage of her?_ _I never lost control with another woman, so why with Jennifer._

"Listen, I'm sorry," He said feeling rotten. He got up from the bed and stared intently at the floor. "Jennifer, I don't know what came over me. I came here to help you out like you've always done for me. I wanted to make sure you had plenty to eat and drink and..." He took a chance to look at her and saw embarrassment and fear on her face. "I realize that Lorne and his Marines are going to beat the crap out of me when they find out and I want you to know I _deserve_ it."

"What are ya babbling on about Rodney?" Carson asked after managing to turn back around. He saw his protege turning bright red and best friend looking like he was on death row. "No one is going to tell the Marines, but _I_ might beat ya for taking advantage of my friend."

"Stop, no one is beating up Rodney." Jennifer got up pulling her bathrobe tightly around her as she regained her composure.

"Its fine, I deserve it," The Canadian argued. "I came here to take care of you and instead ended up _playing doctor_."

Jennifer could not help smiling, but became serious again as she said, "Rodney, I'm sorry..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I should have been a gentleman and not…" Rodney interrupted.

"A caveman?" Carson injected.

"We're talking about Rodney, not Ronon. Although I must say Ronon never did anything like this," Jennifer could not help but smile again.

"Oh, _he's_ really going to kill me," Rodney turned toward Carson. "Let's go before Jennifer realizes she should hit me, too."

"I am not going to hit you," Jennifer grabbed Rodney's arm as he started to leave.

"I think I'll go now and let you two sort this out. I'm sorry for interrupting and if you need me, love, just call," he said to Jennifer.

"Rodney, Jennifer is not sick. She's exhausted and that's why Amanda and I confined her to quarters. You have no risk of contagion." With that the Scottish doctor left the pair staring into each other's eyes. _I doubt they'll notice I'm gone._

"Well, you should," Rodney tired to extricate his arm, but Jennifer held on tight. "I must be nuts to walk away from a beautiful, intelligent, sweet, funny woman who was making out with me, but I know I took advantage of you. We both know you'd never be interested in me if you weren't sick." Silence permeated the room after that statement. Jennifer felt tears well up in her eyes at Rodney's words. _How could he think I'd never be interested?_

"Rodney, I _am_ interested in you." Jennifer shook his arm and pleaded with her eyes. "I've been interested since we met. I stayed away because of Katie and then, well… because I didn't think you'd ever want someone like me."

"Not want someone like you? You're crazy! Of course I want you," the stunned physicist responded before he could stop himself.

"I just wasn't sure... you always put down physicians and... well... I might as well just come out with it," the uncertain woman paused, "I love you and have for ages."

At first Rodney could only hang his mouth open. Slowly, he regained movement in his face enough to ask,"You do? You really love me?"

"Yes." Jennifer smiled slightly, uncertain of Rodney's next move.

They stood staring at each other for what felt like an eternity until Rodney swept Jennifer back into his arms and said, "I love you, too."

* * *

**Some time later**

* * *

"I'm glad you enjoyed your lunch," Rodney commented.

"What's next now that I've been fed, _Doctor McKay_?" Jennifer giggled.

"According to your doctor, you were supposed to eat and rest..."

"Oh, now you want me to rest?"

"Please tell me else I can _do _to help you relax," Rodney smiled seductively and gave her a quick kiss.

"Mmmm," Jennifer was certain she died and went to heaven. "I wish I still had my bathtub because a long soak in the tub _followed by_ a back rub would be nice."

"Your wish is my command."

"You have a bathtub in your quarters!" Jennifer was stunned. "Have I told you I love you?"

"Not often enough," Rodney grinned as he got one step closer to another of his fantasies coming true.

* * *

"So, how did Operation Rodney and Jennifer go?" Amanda asked Carson when he returned to the infirmary.

"It was a total success," Carson beamed as he headed toward his office.

"Perhaps it's time for Operation Carson and Laura, then," The Air Force Doctor whispered with a smile watching her friend walk away.

**

* * *

**

**A/N I left the last Rodney and Jennifer piece nebulous on purpose, so you can all imagine whatever you want to have happened. If someone wants to write an M-rated tag, be my guest.**

** I appreciate any feedback. I have Zelenka coming up next.**


	3. Jennifer's Final Exam

**I don't own anything MGM does.**

**Spoilers-Anything before Brain Storm is fair game.**

**A/N: Thanks to the reviewers. Here is the next installment.**

* * *

Doctor Radek Zelenka had reached the end of his tolerance. The entire situation was ridiculous and he was going to do something about it. His boss was miserable, his close friend was miserable and everyone else was clueless as to what to do about the situation. _It is obvious to everyone except them that they are in love._ The Czech knew drastic measures were needed.

Early in their second year on Atlantis, Radek approached Elizabeth Weir and Rodney McKay to ask if he could run a "school" for anyone interested in learning more about ancient technology. He geared it toward military, medical and operations staff without the ATA gene. As expected, his boss soon forgot he was doing this but it did not stop him. Usually his "students" gave up after a few lessons because it was difficult for people to do much without the ATA gene. During his fourth year of running the school, he discovered a pupil who was brilliant. Atlantis's resident medical genius was a quick study and in Radek's opinion smarter than most of his and Rodney's departments combined.

"Rodney, do you have a moment?" Radek approached his irritable superior cautiously. To say McKay was always in a bad mood lately was a huge understatement.

"What! Can't you see I'm doing important work here!" Rodney growled at his fellow scientist. He had dark circles under his eyes and an empty coffee cup in front of him.

"I know and I would not disturb you unless it was very important," Zelenka had to be careful how he worded his request to Rodney. It was very important to peak the genius's interest without giving everything away. "If you remember, I teach classes to non-scientists interested in learning about Ancient technology…"

"You do? How the hell do you have time for that? No wonder you don't get my work done on time." Rodney glared at the Czech. "Why would you teach them?"

"Well, you never know when you will find someone who missed their calling." Zelenka let out a breath, pushing his glasses further up his nose and continued. _This is not going well._ "And I finally did."

"What is this?" Rodney barked as a tablet was shoved in front of his face. It contained scores and test scenarios. After rolling his eyes, Rodney glanced down at the screen and a shocked expression formed on his face.

"These are the test scores of my star pupil. As you can see these scores are better than most of our staff who have been here for several years," Radek tried to hide his smile as he saw McKay's eyes rapidly scanning and fingers flicking over the screen. _Now to go in for the kill_. "Unfortunately, I am going to very busy this week before I leave for my vacation and can't administer the final exam. I don't want to interrupt..."

"Who is this?" Rodney asked continuing to scroll through the test scenarios and scores. He was shocked someone who was not a scientist in his department could be this smart. The genius rolled his eyes and turned to Zelenka, "Don't tell me it's Colonel I-coulda-been-in-Mensa."

"No, it's not Sheppard," Zelenka chuckled, "Could you administer the final exam? You only need to go to the lab on the east pier and start the simulation. It should not take you more than twenty minutes. My student will do the rest and the data will be captured on the mainframe, so you don't even need to stay." _But you might want to._

The smartest man in two galaxies was so intrigued with the results that he nodded in the affirmative. "Great. I will e-mail you everything and tell my student to meet you there this evening. Thank you, Rodney." Zelenka spoke rapidly and quickly left the lab before Rodney realized what he had agreed to.

"What…Radek, where are you going?" Rodney looked for the smaller man only to find the lab empty. _At least he's in a hurry to get my work done._ _How could this person not be in my department?_ The Head of Research continued to look over the answers to various scenarios; several of which were real events. A smile crossed his handsome face as he saw that many responses were similar to ideas he came up with to save the day. _This person is almost as smart as me. I have to meet him._

* * *

Doctor Jennifer Keller saw an e-mail from Radek pop up on her screen.

**Subject: FINAL EXAM**

**Location: AUXILLARY SCIENCE LAB-EAST PIER**

**Time: 20:00**

_

* * *

Tonight? He must be rushing because of his vacation. _Jennifer sighed as she felt butterflies in her stomach. It was ridiculous to be nervous about an "exam" that did not mean anything, but she took all tests very seriously. The CMO had been much smarter than her medical school classmates, but she still doubted her abilities in subjects outside of medicine.

Shortly after she arrived on Atlantis, she saw a notice for Radek's classes about Ancient technology and was too curious not to sign up. She was amazed by the real life scenarios he gave them to solve. If she went through early mission logs she knew she would find out what the teams did to solve the problems, but that would defeat the purpose. She got an excellent grade on repairing a broken DHD, getting scanners to work without the ATA gene, and getting a stalled jumper to restarted. It amazed her how Radek did his job without the ATA gene.

When it was almost 20:00 hours, she headed to her exam. When she arrived in the lab, she froze in the doorway. The man she loved looked up, his blue eyes widened as he stammered, "Keller... Doctor Jennifer... I mean Doctor Keller... Uh…Jennifer, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for my final exam." Jennifer quickly recovered. Radek said this test would be full of surprises. _He must have sent Rodney to see how I hold up under stress.  
_

"You…Your work... but you're a... medical doctor," McKay continued to stammer. _His Jennifer was the star pupil? _He knew she was brilliant when it came to medicine, but physics and engineering? _No it couldn't be. Radek was tormenting him. _Radek suspected Rodney was infatuated with Jennifer and was getting revenge for the years of insult. Rodney was surprised to see her standing in the doorway dressed in a baggy Harvard University sweat shirt, jeans and sneakers with her hair held back by a headband. Her appearance made him suddenly feel like he was a college freshman on his first date.

"That's right, Rodney. I _did_ the work and I _am_ a physician. You have a problem with that?" _He wants to intimidate me._ An annoyed Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest as she walked up to McKay stopping as close to him as she could without touching him. The young doctor did not know why, but she caused Rodney to become a babbling idiot when she was close to him. Her hopeful heart said it was because he was so entranced with her that he could not think. Her rational brain said he did not like _anyone_ to be in his personal space.

When she stopped inches from him, the smell of her flowery shampoo filled his head causing him to notice her wet hair. _She must have just showered. Oh, that's an image I don't need right now. _All thoughts left his brain as he stammered like an idiot to make up for insulting her.

"No, no, I'm…I didn't mean…You…" he was helpless to come up with anything to say. If he had any courage in him, it fled once she entered the room. The love-sick man wished he could say something smooth like Sheppard or at least say what was on his mind. _I can't believe how smart she is. I am going to kill Radek for getting to spend all this time with her._ Instead, he stared into the angry brown eyes before him unsure of what to say or do.

Of course, the City of Atlantis took matters into its own hands by closing the door and shutting off all lights in the room except the console.

"What the hell just happened?" Rodney quickly turned back to his tablet only to find the screen blank. "Huh?"

"Isn't this my test?" Jennifer's angry voice permeated his brain. "Figure out how to get us out of here?"

"What? No, I…Actually, I didn't open Zelenka's message telling me what to do," The resident genius was confused. "Radek," he yelled into his headset, "Where the hell are you? Control Room? Chuck? Sheppard?"

"Rodney, nice acting, but please be quiet so I can figure this out. Let's see we have no communications or power." To test her point, she went to the door and tried to open it. When that failed, she popped the panel and tried to hot-wire it.

"Jennifer, what are you doing?" Rodney jumped up rapidly crossing the room to her side. He took her hands in his and pulled them out of the panel. "You could hurt yourself."

She always had cold hands, so being encompassed by the warmth of his made her gasp slightly. Staring first at his hands holding hers and then up into his face, which was close to hers caused heat to wash over her. _Radek must not have told him about this._

Glancing around the room, Jennifer finally found her voice. "I need to try to get out without any help. It's probably like the quarantine lock-down we had last year." The CMO said in a soothing voice because she knew how agitated Rodney got when he felt trapped. _  
_

"That's ridiculous. Zelenka told me to come here and start the test. I didn't do anything before you got here," Rodney growled. _How could this happen twice?_ He was trapped with the woman he loved this time, not the woman he was hiding behind because his feelings for Jennifer terrified him.

"Trust me, its part of the test. You are probably here to distract me from my work," Jennifer said softly, trying to keep her mind on the problem and not the fact that Rodney had not let go of her hands. This caused her pulse to race and her breathing to become erratic. She wanted him to do a lot more than hold her hands.

"Jennifer, why would Radek trap us in here?" Rodney's eyes were darting around the room; his breathing was increasing as he rubbed her hands with his. He seemed oblivious to what he was doing to her.

"Because… he… he knows how you get… See if I can stay… _focused_," Jennifer whispered.

"So..." Rodney began, "I distract you?" _Did she mean that?_

A red flush passed over her face as her eyes that had been glued to their joined hands raised to look into his. All thought left her body as she swayed toward him. _Please kiss me_, she silently begged as her eyes drifted to his smirking lips.

Rodney's eyes were drawn to hers when her tongue flicked out to wet them. It drove him over the edge so he lowered his head the few inches between them and brushed his lips lightly over hers. The instant they came into contact, two years of longing burst forth consuming them. The beautiful doctor whimpered as his tongue slowly tasted her lips and then took advantage of her parted lips to slip inside. Rodney moaned as he deepened the kiss. He could not believe his fantasy was coming true.

As their tongues battled for dominance, their hands began to wander. Jennifer had one arm wrapped around Rodney's shoulders and the other wrapped around his waist beneath his jacket. Rodney had one hand buried in her hair and the other stroked her back under the sweatshirt. He turned Jennifer to press her back against the wall.

"I love you, Jennifer," Rodney whispered when he finally moved his mouth off hers to blaze a path along her jaw to her ear.

"I love you, too," Jennifer groaned back as she twisted her head to kiss him.

Suddenly, they both pulled back far enough to look into each other's eyes.

Yelling in Rodney's ear got his attention. "Ow, Radek, what the…" Rodney listened to his earwig, continuing to stare into Jennifer's eyes. "Okay. Okay, we'll reschedule."

The physicist lowered his mouth to the lovely physician, but Jennifer slid her hand to his chest to hold him back a moment. "Rodney, did you say…" Jennifer was certain she imagined it.

"Did you?" Rodney responded uncertain as well.

Grins spread over each of their faces. "I love you," the lovers said in unison.

"Let's go somewhere more private," Rodney said smiling seductively and stealing one more kiss.

When they recovered enough to walk out of the lab, they left with arms tightly wrapped around each other. Jennifer was not upset about her canceled exam. Rodney's love was the best _grade _ever.

* * *

Radek had seen enough on the monitor. The last thing he wanted was to embarrass his friends too much. He flicked on the lights and opened the door remotely to the lab.

"Rodney. McKay. Rodney!" Radek yelled into his earwig. _Operation Rodney and Jennifer was a success._

**

* * *

A/N I appreciate any feedback to let me know if I should continue. Thanks!**


	4. A Satedan Matchmaker

**I don't own anything MGM does.**

**Spoilers-Sateda & Tracker.**

**A/N: Thanks to the reviewers. Here is the next installment. Thanks to scr1tno for the idea of a Ronon story.**

**WARNING: If you hate the concept that Ronon had a crush on Jennifer, you won't like some of this story. **

* * *

Ronon Dex was just finishing his evening run through the city when he heard sobbing coming from a nearby balcony. When he passed through the door, the sight before him broke his heart. Jennifer Keller was seated on the ground with her knees drawn up, arms wrapped around them and head resting on her arms. The sobs were coming from her. Without a thought, Ronon moved to sit beside her and wrap his arms around woman who had captured his heart for the first time since Melena.

Jennifer Keller jumped as she felt arms wrap around her. For a split second she hoped her dreams had come true, but only saw the big Satedan causing her heart to fall. She pushed herself up quickly.

"Ronon, what are you doing?" Her voice squeaked.

"Why are you crying?" Ronon growled as he was taken aback by her reaction. Then he remembered their last encounter, which ended with Jennifer dismissing his romantic intentions by saying she "was interested in someone else". The pain of that encounter took a couple months to heal and he thought he was over it until she physically pushed him away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone was out here," The medical genius quickly said, wrapping her arms tightly around her body.

"I heard crying," He said as he rose to his full height towering over the doctor.

"I'm fine. Really, its nothing."

Ronon noticed the redness of her face and the wetness on the sleeves of her jacket. He was ready to walk away when he realized he still cared about her and wanted to help. "What's wrong? We're still friends, aren't we?"

Jennifer was stunned. _Still friends?_ "You have a funny way of showing friendship. You avoided me for months."

"I know. Its just… well… women don't usually turn me down." It was now his turn to get flustered. He could not believe he said it out loud. _I sound as arrogant as McKay_.

At that admission, the young physician started laughing. The concept that a nerdy girl from Wisconsin had the interest of a gorgeous alien warrior was too much for her to take. Ronon joined in after a few seconds. He loved the sound of her laughter even if she was laughing _at_ him.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" He said as he motioned for them to sit on the bench. Jennifer smiled and sat next to him.

"It's my birthday tomorrow and I always cry around my birthday," She said matter-of-factly.

"Why? I thought your people had parties and celebrated?"

"Most people do. It's just… every year, I think this is going to be _the_ year and then it doesn't."

"What doesn't happen?"

"What?" Jennifer was confused. _Did I just say that out loud?_

"What doesn't happen each year?" Ronon nudged her slightly with his arm. "You better tell me because I'm late for dinner and Rodney is going to eat all the cookies."

At the mention of the physicist's name, Jennifer felt tears well up again. _Stop it. Ronon will think you are mental. _"I'm going to be twenty-nine this year and I still haven't met the man of my dreams. Well… I've met him but he doesn't even know I exist. I realize this is stupid to you, but I just don't know what's wrong with me. I only seem to pick guys who don't want me. I mean you were interested, but I had to fall for someone..." She sighed and slumped back against the bench looking like a pouting, love-sick teenager.

"Who is he?" Ronon steeled himself to hear the name of his teammate.

"I can't tell _you_! No one knows," She jumped to her feet and began to pace. "What would you do if I told you anyways; go up to him and say Jennifer is in love with you?"

"No, but I could find out if he's interested in you," Ronon stood up to his full height trying to intimidate the petite doctor. Jennifer did not seem concerned.

"No. I'd rather be his friend than be humiliated by having you run interference like in high school."

"I have an idea. How about you name five guys and make sure the one you like is on the list? I will find out if any of them are interested in you," The big Satedan cocked an eyebrow and stared down into her pretty face. A plan was forming in his mind as he waited for her to speak.

"Okay. I can name five guys, but… how are you going to find out if one of them likes me and what if it's the wrong guy?" _What could he possibly do to get Rodney to tell him how he feels about me?_

"Just name them," Ronon crossed his arms and leaned against the rail.

Jennifer took a deep breath and began, "Sheppard, Stackhouse, Markham, McKay and Lorne." She tried to keep her voice steady as she named each man; trying to give each the same inflection.

"Okay, I need you to come by my table in the mess hall and ask me what you are supposed to wear for this weekend. That's it. No matter who is at the table, ask me and then go to your quarters and wait."

"Huh? What am I supposed to wear? What are we doing this weekend?" _He must have lost his mind. _

"You and I are going on a date to a festival on Minos. That's all you need to know." Ronon was trying not to smile. He knew exactly which one of the men she named that was her "someone else". The fourth member of SGA-1 also knew that Rodney was very _interested_ in her. "Trust me. I want to help you to have a nice birthday tomorrow."

The country girl from Wisconsin knew she was crazy to try this, but she _did not_ want to celebrate her thirtieth birthday alone next year. In the worse case, one of the soldiers would be interested in her and she could settle for one of them. _All of them are intelligent, handsome, courageous. Those are great qualities in a boyfriend._ _Yeah, settling for one of them would not be bad. _

_Who are you kidding; Rodney is the only one to ever make your heart flutter and your knees weak. You'd never settle for anyone else. _"Okay, deal,"Jennifer stretched out her hand and shook Ronon's.

"See you in half an hour."

* * *

In the mess hall, Ronon, Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne and the two Sergeants, Markham and Stackhouse sat near the center of the room. Ronon called out to Rodney when he saw him, "Hey McKay come here."

Rodney McKay was very distracted. He knew tomorrow was Jennifer's birthday but had no clue what to do. Even though she did not love him, he could not imagine his life without her and wanted to do something really special for her. Rodney nodded noticing all the soldiers with Ronon. The cantankerous scientist knew they were all friends of Jennifer's and that they could help.

"I've got a question for you guys," Ronon's deep voice hit Rodney's ears when he sat down. "I have a date this weekend with a woman from Earth and want to make sure I don't do anything that is _taboo_ on your world."

"What did you have in mind for your date?" Sheppard asked as he reclined back on two legs of his chair.

"I was taking her off-world to a festival on Minos. It's a world that celebrates each year they avoid a Wraith culling with a big festival."

"What kind of festival?" Major Lorne asked as he sipped his coffee mug.

The last thing Atlantis's resident super genius wanted was to discuss was Ronon's love life. At least Ronon was pursuing other women and leaving Jennifer alone. It appeared to Rodney that they did not even spar together any longer since the Daedalus incident. Jennifer had confided in him that she was angry with Ronon for destroying the ship's computer instead of disabling it. It was hard for the astrophysicist not to smile.

"There is dancing, drinking and lots of…" Ronon paused for good measure making sure McKay had a mouth full of food, "intimate activities."

The military guys all laughed with knowing grins on their faces. As expected, Rodney began to choke on his food.

"Ronon," Colonel Sheppard began, "Does this woman know about the… _intimate activities_? Because… sometimes women on Earth don't like to… you know…"

"You know what?" Ronon asked.

"Do it," Stackhouse completed in his Texas drawl. "You know, have sex on the first date. Assuming it is your first date."

"Oh, it's definitely a first date."

Rodney could not believe it. Ronon was going to take a woman to an _orgy_ on their first date. _Unbelievable! What a barbarian!_ The scientist of SGA-1 thought he knew Ronon pretty well, but this shocked him.

"Ronon, could I have a word?" Rodney's head snapped up as soon as he heard the voice of the woman he loved. Jennifer was standing next to Ronon who happened to be sitting across from Rodney. She did not seem to even notice he was there and was staring straight at Ronon. _Oh no._ A sickening feeling began to creep up from Rodney's stomach.

"Sure, what's up?." Ronon leaned back with a huge grin as he shook his dreads back from his face.

"Oh... I was just wondering what I should wear for the weekend." Jennifer glanced briefly at Sheppard who was seated next to Ronon, but continued to ignore Rodney.

"Nothing fancy. Whatever you normally wear on your day off." A sly smile spread across Ronon's face as he glanced quickly at the guys.

"Okay. I hope you gentleman have a nice evening." Jennifer almost ran out of the mess hall. Her heart was going to explode and she had to pause outside the door to breath. The medical doctor could not look at Rodney. She was too ashamed. _Why did I ever agree to do this? Now Rodney thinks I'm dating Ronon. _Tears threatened once again, so she ran to her quarters to wait.

Rodney's sickening feeling turned into rage as soon as Ronon slyly looked at the men at the table. _How dare he!_ Jennifer was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person Rodney ever met. She meant everything to him and he would do anything for her. When no one else at the table said anything to defend her and stop this horrible deed from occurring, Rodney decided to act.

Ronon was expecting a jealous outburst from McKay, but he got Rodney's fist connecting with his nose from across the table. Rodney packed all the anger and love he felt for Jennifer into the punch breaking Ronon's nose instantly and sending him tumbling backwards in the chair. The military men at the table and everyone else in the mess hall stared in shock. McKay had kicked his chair away from him as it hindered him from getting to Ronon.

"How dare you even consider using Jennifer like that? I thought I knew you. I thought you were a… decent man… even a good friend but I can assure you that you are not even going to be on Atlantis when I'm through with you!" Rodney lunged for Ronon who was still on the floor. It took Lorne and Stackhouse to hold Rodney back. Sheppard jumped up to get between them as well while Markham radioed the infirmary.

* * *

Jennifer just stepped into her quarters when her earwig went off with a request for her to come to the infirmary immediately. She took off in a run because she had a feeling something just happened in the mess hall.

Her infirmary was in chaos when she entered. Sergeants Stackhouse and Markham, along with Sheppard and Lorne had McKay pinned to a wall while Doctor Cole and Marie worked on Ronon who was on a bed nearby.

"What the hell is going on here!" She screamed over the swearing and yelling that was coming from the soldiers and McKay. "What are you doing to Rodney?" Jennifer approached the struggling men and flinched as she heard Rodney scream at Ronon how he was going to prevent the Satedan from ever procreating.

"Rodney, calm down! You're going to have a seizure," The doctor was scared because his face was bright red and he was struggling with four highly skilled soldiers who did not want to use the force they were capable of on him. "Please!"

Jennifer's voice finally permeated Rodney's consciousness as the outrage for his teammate's earlier words began to subside. His eyes left the bed holding his bleeding victim and found hers, he visibly sagged against the arms and hands of those holding him.

"Rodney, what happened?" Jennifer was captured by the intense blue of his eyes. _He has the most beautiful eyes._

"Jennifer… I… you can't…" Rodney was captured by her tawny eyes as well. He had to get her away from Ronon. Not for himself, but to protect her from heart ache. He steeled himself internally for the conversation they were going to have to have.

"I'm fine guys. I got it together." He tried to shake off their hands and arms. With a nod from Colonel Sheppard, the men all backed off slowly keeping themselves as a shield between Ronon and Rodney. Rodney still did not tear his eyes off of the face of the woman he loved.

Jennifer saw a flash of pain cross Rodney's face and suddenly pulled her eyes away to make sure he was not injured. The CMO noticed blood on Ronon's face when she glanced at him upon entering the infirmary, but was so intent on ensuring Rodney had not been harmed that she had not glanced at Ronon again. _There must have been some type of fight._ Her physician's eye took in the way Rodney was holding his right hand cradled in his left. Without thinking that Rodney had been a raving lunatic a moment ago, she pushed between Lorne and Stackhouse to stand in front of Rodney. _He would never hurt me_, she was certain.

"Let me see that," She requested in her gentle, doctor voice.

Rodney was entranced and raised his aching hand for her to see. There was blood on it and it was starting to swell.

"Rodney! What did you do?" Jennifer pulled him toward a sink at the back of the lab. He followed obediently.

She ran water and gently began to wipe the blood from Rodney's hand.

"Jennifer," Rodney began in a soft voice that caused Jennifer's blood pressure to shoot up. "You can't go with Ronon this weekend."

"What?" Jennifer was getting more affected that she should be by Rodney's closeness. Since she was holding his hand in the sink, he was very close to her side. His left hand came up to rest on her upper right arm.

"You can't go with Ronon. He only wants…" The super genius was not sure how to say this without blurting out a topic he never wanted to discuss with Jennifer. _That's not entirely true. I just want to do more than discuss it._ "He only wants to have sex with you. This festival is a big… orgy." He rushed out the words and felt his face turn as hot as a furnace.

"What!" Jennifer looked up at Rodney then glanced at Ronon lying on the bed at the other end of the infirmary. Sheppard and the soldiers looking at him and not them. _Ronon told him he was taking me to an orgy? What the hell was he thinking and why didn't Lorne beat the crap out of him?_

"Jennifer, I was as shocked as you, but he said it." Rodney had no idea what Jennifer was going to do.

"And then you punched him," Jennifer looked back up at the man she loved. _Why did he punch Ronon? _Her own genius mind taking her in a direction she had only dreamed about. Her brown eyes bore into his blue ones hoping to gain some insight into what was going on in Rodney's mind. _Was he… jealous?_

Doctor McKay was at a loss as to the next step. Jennifer was so close that he was finding it extremely difficult to think. He pulled his right hand out of the cold water Jennifer was holding it under making sure to capture her smaller hand in his. After this move, Jennifer moved her right arm up to rest on his chest over his heart.

"Rodney," Her voice was a whisper that could barely be heard. Rodney leaned his head a little lower to hear. "Why did you hit Ronon?"

As if Jennifer were the center of a black hole drawing in all that surrounded her, Rodney did not stop his decent until his mouth was pressed against hers. Jennifer gasped at the feel of his lips on hers allowing Rodney to press his advantage and slip his tongue into her mouth. It was as if that was the key to unlocking their desire for each other. Arms moved to surround each other and hands began stroking backs, burrowing into hair, and whimpers and moans escaped their throats.

Sheppard glanced at Rodney and Jennifer to see them in a passionate embrace after he heard a new sound coming from the back of the room. His eyebrows shot up his forehead and he said to Sergeant Stackhouse, "Close that screen back there. I think they need some time alone."

* * *

"I towd you it would work," Ronon mumbled under the ice pack he was holding on his nose.

"Are you going to kill McKay?" Sheppard asked warily.

"Neber been prowder of Wodney," Ronon managed. They all laughed heartily.

**

* * *

A/N Ronon's last line is "Never been prouder of Rodney" if you can't figure it out.**

**I appreciate the feedback from my loyal fans. Ronon is hard to write, so I hope I captured him. If you remember he had been really gentle with Teyla in several episodes. Very much like a brother. I tried to capture some of that. Thanks!**


	5. The Double Date

**I don't own anything MGM does.**

**Spoilers-Quarantine **

**A/N: Thanks to the reviewers. Here is the next installment. Thanks to scr1tno for this idea for Sheppard's story.**

* * *

"Jennifer, I need your help," Colonel John Sheppard said quietly as he slid into the chair next to her in the mess hall. His arm slid behind her. She was shocked by his use of her first name and his proximity.

"I don't think you ever called me Jennifer before, _John_."

"No, I'm sure I have," He said with a hopeful look on his face. "You are a beautiful, intelligent woman. I must have..."

"Must have what?" Jennifer crossed her arms and leaned as far away from him as she could fixing him with a penetrating stare.

The flustered Colonel scrambled to think of something to say besides what was on his mind. _You're hot. I'm sure I gave it a thought once or twice_, but nothing came to mind. He _honestly_ never thought about Jennifer in a romantic fashion. _How weird is that?_ _Better try the charm._ "Never mind. Since you are intelligent and nice, I was hoping you would help me with a _delicate_ problem."

"What do you need me to do?" Atlantis's resident medical genius replied with trepidation in her voice. A sneaky suspicion formed in her mind. _Why are we talking about **this **outside the infirmary?_

"I need you to go on a double date with me."

"What?" Jennifer's eyebrows shot up under her bangs. _Double date with Sheppard?_ _I thought he needed some type of medication._

"A double date. Listen, here's what happened. I had a date with Nina… Nina… Uh… your new technician. She got here on the last Daedalus run."

"You mean Nina Ramone?" She shook her head. _What a piece of work, he doesn't even know her last name?_

"Yeah, Ramone. Anyways, we had a date and I found out she was only using me to be introduced to one of my team. She seems to really like him but is afraid to be alone with him. She said she feels comfortable with me and you, but doesn't really know anyone else. I told her I'd help out." The soldier looked at Jennifer with the biggest, puppy dog look he could come up with and he nudged her shoulder. "Where is your sense of romance?"

_Hiding in the physics lab._ The CMO signed, shaking her head slowly.

"Please, Doc. Jennifer," John started to beg, "I will never question your medical evaluations of me and my team again. If you say we need to stay in the infirmary for days, I won't question it."

"That's not likely. Why are you doing this? She doesn't want you, so why would you fix her up with someone else?"

"Because I care about the well-being of my team and I can get other girls. _He _hasn't gotten _any_ in ages and it will make him more bearable to be around."

Jennifer choked on the water she just drank. _Ronon hadn't… In ages. Wow, that's a shock. _For some unknown reason she wanted to help the big Satedan have some pleasure in his life. She could not help but remember the story he told her about his lost love, Melena. It had touched Jennifer's heart. She almost kissed him out of sympathy that day.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Excellent, come to my quarters at 20:00. We're having dinner and a movie." John playfully punched her shoulder and turned away smiling_. Time to thicken the plot._

* * *

Rodney McKay was having a terrible day. He had hoped to have lunch with Jennifer but something, as usual, came up.

"Rodney," His team leader's voice sounded exceptionally cheerful as he entered the lab. "Have I got a surprise for you?"

"Unless you're going to tell me Zelenka is being recalled to Earth or that I never have to take sparring lessons with Ronon again, nothing you could say to me will matter," He barked at Sheppard. _Or that Jennifer is madly in love with me._

"I've set you up with a gorgeous woman." Sheppard's grin stretched from ear to ear. When he reached Rodney's desk, he slapped him on the back. "Stop gushing, you're making me blush."

"Do I look like I want to be set up?" _What the hell is Sheppard getting at? I am in no mood for his games._ "I have zero time for this. Doctor Screw-up almost burned out the ZedPM, _again_. I need competent help, not gorgeous bimbos."

"I can assure you that she is no bimbo. All I will tell you is that she works in the infirmary and that she's crazy about you." The Colonel gave Rodney a knowing look and winked at him. "You will meet me in my quarters at 19:30…"

"Your quarters, what is that about?" The genius was wary. _Could Jennifer really be crazy about him? No, not possible._ He was so far beneath her that he could not believe they were even friends.

"She is very shy and wants a double date, so we are having dinner in my quarters and watching a movie. If you don't show, I'll send Ronon after you."

"You wouldn't dare because you know I'll screw with your room controls," Rodney threatened.

"Rodney, when is the last time you were with a woman? Please don't answer that question, it's only rhetorical." John cringed when Rodney opened his mouth to respond. "Come on, buddy, this is for you."

Rodney was in no mood for one of John's jokes, but he was intrigued as to who this woman from medical was.

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Excellent."

* * *

Rodney took care dressing that evening. He was ninety percent certain this was a Sheppard set-up, but ten percent of him prayed this was for real. _Jennifer Keller, the most amazing woman in two galaxies is crazy about me._ A smiled crossed his face as he contemplated that idea for a moment. _No, but it's a nice fantasy. _After changing his shirt three times, he settled on a black Oxford and khaki pants.

Sheppard's quarters were near his, so he did not have far to walk. John was smiling when he opened the door. Rodney only saw one woman seated on John's bed. She looked vaguely familiar and was beautiful if you liked the dark-haired-beauty-type. As everyone knows, Rodney prefers blonds.

"Hello Rodney, do you know Nina Ramone? She's one of Keller's new assistants." SGA-1's team leader carefully watched his teammate's response. Nina rose seductively off John's bed and slinked toward Rodney. The physicist did not bat an eye at her form-fitting, low-cut, black dress. She'd even had three-inch heels. _He's got it bad. J_ohn could not help chuckling.

"Uh, nice to meet you," Rodney said. _Where was his date?_ "Isn't someone missing, Sheppard?"

"Oh, she's running late as always. My new boss never leaves an e-mail unread or a report unfinished before she leaves. Doctor Keller is the most efficient person I ever worked for. I'm really lucky," Nina said reaching out to shake Rodney's hand.

"Oh, okay."_ It is Jennifer! _The love-sick man's heart soared. _She really likes me!_ Because of his near forty years of pessimism, the thought that this was still an elaborate joke still floated around in his mind. He tried to ignore it.

They sat at the table drinking beer and telling funny stories about Atlantis while waiting for Doctor Keller to appear. John glanced at Nina as the eight o-clock hour approached and she sat closer to Rodney with her arm around his chair.

* * *

Jennifer glanced at the clock and saw it was fifteen minutes until her double date with John started. She could not believe she agreed to do this, but Nina stopped by during the afternoon to thank her. She really was a sweet girl, about the age that Jennifer was when she arrived two years ago. A smile crossed her face as she remembered her early days on Atlantis. Of course Rodney came to mind immediately. Too bad I suck with men as much as he sucks with women or we might have had a chance.

The young physician grabbed her clothing bag that she always kept in the infirmary and went to the rest room. She did not care how she dressed since she was only there for moral support and had _zero_ interest in the Colonel.

Five minutes later, the CMO left the infirmary in a light blue sweater and jeans. She heard laughter coming from Sheppard's quarters as she approached. _I guess the party started. Spending the evening with Sheppard, Ronon and Nina would not be too bad._

She chimed the door. John opened it and waved her in.

"Sorry if I'm a little late. You know how the infirmary…" Jennifer stopped dead in her tracks. Ronon was nowhere to be seen. Instead a surreal image filled her vision. Nina who was wearing a very low-cut black dress with spaghetti straps. She was leaning very close to Rodney with one arm around his shoulders. Everyone was smiling and red-faced from laughing.

Seeing the man she loved happily laughing and smiling with another woman was more than she could take. She lost all color in her face as tears welled up in her eyes. To avoid any further embarrassment, she turned and ran from the room.

"Jennifer!" John called after her.

As he turned back to his guests, he was pushed aside by Rodney as the astrophysicist took off out the door yelling for Jennifer to stop. The usually oblivious scientist saw the shocked and hurt expression on Jennifer's face and knew it had to do with him.

Jennifer stopped running when she felt a stitch in her side. She was near her favorite balcony, so she went to it and sat on a bench. The tears of loss poured down her face and some sobs escaped her. The man she loved and held a torch for the last two years was being set up with a beautiful, dark-haired, statuesque woman who wanted him. She knew he was lost from her forever. _How could a petite, nerdy doctor compete with that?_ If she had been more forward and took the initiative, she might have had a chance, but not now. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

"Oh, Jennifer, what's wrong?"

Rodney's voice startled her because she never expected to hear him speak with such gentleness. She glanced up as he sat next to her on the bench sliding his arm around her shoulders to pull her to him. Because she craved his touch like a fish out of water, she grabbed on to him.

"I… I'm…" The love-sick girl could not think of anything to say but the truth. Staring down at her hands clenching the dark fabric of his shirt she decided her humiliation was almost complete. She might as well jump off the cliff with both feet, so she raised her head to look into his brilliant blue eyes. "I love you."

The words were like an ignition source to Rodney's own love for her. He knew instantly in his soul that her words were true. A wave of happiness like he had never known filled his heart. Wasting no more time, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.

It was a gentle kiss that filled Jennifer with hope and joy. She whimpered and Rodney took the slight opening of her lips as a sign to deepen the kiss, which he did.

When they finally parted a long time later, Jennifer had been pulled onto Rodney's lap with one of his hands buried in her hair and the other under her sweater stroking her back. They gazed into each other's eyes and Rodney said the words Jennifer longed to hear. "I love you, too. I always have and always will. No other women exist but you."

Thinking these were the most romantic words she would ever hear, Jennifer pulled Rodney's mouth back to hers and kissed him with all the love she had.

* * *

Neither of them noticed the door leading to the balcony sliding shut. John Sheppard turned to Nina and grinned like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Now, Colonel, you owe me that full-body massage you promised," The beautiful woman purred.

"Absolutely! Without your help, Operation Rodney and Jennifer would not have succeeded."

**

* * *

A/N: I figured out a Teyla story. It will be up next.  
**


	6. The Naming Ceremony

**I don't own anything MGM does.**

**Spoilers-Missing and The Seed. **

**A/N: Huge thanks to scr1tno for her beta and inspiration. **

* * *

"I think it should be Rodney. He was with me as a I brought Torren into the world," Teyla spoke to Kanaan and he nodded in agreement.

"And I think Doctor Keller should be the other," Kanaan began, "She was there with me until I was healed. I know she worked day and night fighting with Woolsey to allow me back here."

"She fought at my side against the Bola Kai as well. She is a good choice." Teyla was walking her quarters with Torren in her arms. She stopped before her son's father and smiled sweetly. "I will ask Rodney tomorrow if you will ask Jennifer." Kanaan nodded.

* * *

Jennifer looked down at the Athosian dress she was wearing. It was a too low-cut for her taste and fit like a second skin. She never felt more self-conscious, but she did not want to offend Teyla by refusing to wear her gift. It was a great honor that the Athosians were bestowing on her at Torren's naming ceremony. She would be a Guardian, which was something like a Godmother to Torren.

Her door chimed, so she quickly pulled on her jacket and grabbed her overnight bag. She opened the door and saw Rodney standing before her with a dark blue Oxford shirt that brought out the blue of his eyes and black pants. Rodney had his eyebrows raised as he noticed her jacket.

"Nice outfit," he said smiling as he reached out to take her bag.

"Funny. This dress is really _not_ me, but I couldn't offend Teyla," Jennifer said pulling the jacket tighter around her chest causing Rodney to continue to stare.

"Sheppard and Ronon are in the Jumper bay. I figured we should show up together since we are the Godparents," the physicist said stepping aside for Jennifer to leave her quarters.

His mouth fell open as he tried not to stare when she walked past him. The jacket covered the top of the dress, but the bottom revealed her perfect legs through a slit in the back when she walked. It also accentuated her backside. It was impossible for Rodney to think. The beautiful doctor did not seem to notice Rodney's lack of speech as she talked to him about everything Teyla told her about the ceremony. Jennifer and Rodney would be required to stand with Teyla and Kanaan while they named their son and needed to greet all the Athosians as members of Torren's family. The greetings would involve taking a drink of the ceremonial wine with each person. Wine always went right to Jennifer's head. She voiced her fears to Rodney who finally found his voice and promised her he would not let her make a fool of herself. Teyla's teammate had drunk this particular wine before and it did not affect him much.

"You only need to take tiny sips. Besides, I don't think there will be too many people there," he tried to calm her nerves.

"Rodney, why are you being so nice to me?" Over the last few weeks since the Hive Ship bacteria infected Jennifer, Rodney always seemed to be around. They had always been friends; eating meals together and hanging out on movie night, but this felt different. She did not want to destroy Rodney's new attitude by pressuring him into a conversation about what it all meant, but she was in love with him and wanted to know if there was any chance of them being more than friends.

Rodney had no answer to the question other than the truth: _I love you and I almost lost you._ Needless to say, he could not say _that_. _A perfect woman like Jennifer would never be interested in me._ "Uh… I don't… I mean… I've always been nice to you," the genius babbled to her.

Thankfully, John Sheppard and Ronon came up behind them.

"Look it's the Godparents. When's the wedding you two? I'm sure Woolsey would love that," Colonel John Sheppard said wrapping his arms around both of them as they headed into the Jumper.

"Very funny, Sheppard. Does someone write hilarious stuff like that for you or do you make it up yourself," Rodney snarled to his Team leader. Jennifer turned dark red as she squirmed out of John's arm and moved quickly into the jumper. _I can't believe I asked Rodney that._

Keeping her eyes averted from him as he stepped into the cockpit of the jumper, Jennifer managed to keep from saying or doing anything embarrassing during the rest of the flight to the new Athosian settlement. She was dreading the moment she had to take her jacket off because she was concerned about Ronon and Sheppard seeing her. _Rodney will barely notice._ The astrophysicist did not look at her since she asked him why he was being nice. _Why did I push it? I actually had his attention and now its gone. _

* * *

There was too much going on once they got to the settlement for Jennifer to talk with Rodney. The doctor was whisked away by Teyla when she got there to go over the phrases she needed to say at the ceremony. Since she would be a "second mother" to Torren, she had a few things to say in the ceremony.

Teyla appeared to notice that Jennifer still had on her jacket. "Is it too cold here? I could find a dress with longer sleeves if you need me to?"

"What? Oh… No… I'm just," Jennifer turned bright red and Teyla suddenly understood what the problem was.

"You are an extremely beautiful woman. You should not be ashamed to show off your body, which is why I gave you that dress. I have noticed that women from Earth are very…" The Leader of the Athosians was stretching for the right word. _What did Sheppard say?_ "uptight? Is that right?"

Jennifer could not help but laugh. Teyla was one of toughest people she ever met; yet she also was one of the most feminine. She knew how to show off her body without any concern. "That's right and I am one of the worse."

"I see. Well, we could find something else," Her statement was interrupted by Alia telling them that the ceremony was going to start.

The shy woman knew she had run out of time. _This is silly. This is about Teyla, Kanaan and Torren, not me._ "I'm fine. Let's go." She pulled offer her jacket and followed Teyla out of the tent.

* * *

Rodney was confused and terrified of his feelings for Jennifer. _This is why I always avoid relationships. I suck at it. _He had managed to keep his feelings hidden until recently. When Jennifer was locked in the isolation lab because of her infection and he was confined in his quarters, he almost lost it. It would be a long time before he would ever forgive Woolsey for leaving her alone.

A gasp from Sheppard pulled Rodney out of his thoughts. The sight before his eyes took his breath away. Jennifer had taken her jacket off to reveal the low-cut Athosian dress, which showed off a great deal of cleavage. The dress fit her figure like a second skin. The love-starved man knew he should close his mouth and stop staring._ Why is she coming toward me and smiling? What the hell am I supposed to do? _All memory of why he was there left him as all the blood in his brain went to another region of his body.

Jennifer tried to ignore the looks she was receiving from Sheppard and Ronon. Her face felt like it was on fire and she was certain the blush spread from her hairline to her toes. Their mouths hung open and eyes followed every move she made walking through the tent on her way to stand next to Rodney. It took her a few moments to lift her eyes to look at the man she loved, but the look on his face made it worth the delay. The handsome man that haunted her dreams had a shocked expression on his face; his bright blue eyes were glued to her body, his mouth was parted, and his hands, which always were twitching when he was forced to stand still, hung limply at his side. A sly grin spread across her face. _Looks like the dress got him to notice me. I have to thank Teyla._

When she stepped up to his side, she leaned in close and whispered, "I'm glad you like it."

The super genius could only stare at Jennifer during the entire ceremony. She had to nudge him several times to get him to take the cup Kanaan was offering him. Luckily Rodney had no lines to repeat and only needed to stand there. He was not capable of doing anything else. The woman he loved was standing close by him dressed in… His mind could not come up with a word to describe how the dress made her look.

Jennifer thought the wine reminded her of fruit punch with no taste of alcohol to it. _This is going to be easy. _After the first twenty-five people passed, she felt a little lightheaded. After fifty, she could barely stop laughing. When she hit a hundred, she could barely stand and grabbed onto the closest thing, which happened to be Atlantis's lead scientist.

Rodney was supporting an extremely drunken Jennifer Keller by the end of the ceremony. She reached the point where she could not stand without leaning on something and he was the only thing nearby. It was her body and hands grabbing onto him that pulled him out of his stupor that was caused by her dress. Her giggling and laughter echoed around the relatively empty tent.

"Mmm, that was fun," Jennifer slurred as she wrapped both arms around his neck. "Did I tell you how handsome you are?"

"What?" Rodney was stunned.

He stopped thinking when her lips pressed against his. His arms wrapped around her waist pulling her close as he lost himself in the kiss. After what felt like an eternity, loud coughing dragged him out of his fantasy that became reality. Rodney looked over Jennifer's head to see his commanding officer staring at them.

"Teyla was concerned about Jennifer and sent me to find you two," Sheppard glanced at his friend with eyebrows raised. "Need help getting her to bed?"

Atlantis's CMO was too wrapped up in the bliss of finally being held by Rodney and kissed by him that she did not notice that anyone else was there. Her head was pressed into Rodney's neck, so she started kissing him.

"Don't… Need help… Got it… Uh… Under control," he got out through clenched teeth as he fought off a groan caused by Jennifer nipping at his neck. Rodney pushed her away from enough to keep her from kissing him.

"Just checking," Atlantis's military leader said while turning away. It took all his control not to laugh. _Rodney has to fight off the woman he loves. _Sheppard did not think for a second that Rodney would take advantage of Jennifer, but he was not certain how drunk the physicist was.

Rodney, led by John, got Jennifer back to her tent. He had to pick her up after a while because she stumbled a lot and kept trying to kiss him. Once she was settled in bed, the flustered man left her tent.

"What!" he growled at Sheppard.

"Rodney, I know you would not take advantage of her, but consider me an insurance policy to keep you from hating yourself in the morning."

Rodney glared at Sheppard but was actually not mad. _Thank God, John showed up._ Jennifer was more passionate that he could have ever imagined and would not have been able to fend her off much longer. He was still a man after all.

"Come on, let's take the edge off with some of Halling's brew," his friend said, clasping a hand on his shoulder.

"Is that the stuff that tastes like Zelenka's?"

"Yup."

"Well, I got nothing else to do."

* * *

The first thing Jennifer Keller became aware of was a pain in her head. Luckily, her head was resting on something soft. After a couple of minutes, she became aware of a sound. _Sounds like someone is snoring. Did I pass out during the ceremony?_ The confused woman shifted and suddenly felt something pressed against her naked body. _What? Oh. My. God. I didn't._ The naked man next to her shifted and wrapped his arms tighter around her body.

Something was pressing on his chest. _What's this all about? Am I having a heartache? Yup, my arms are tingling. Damn Halling and Sheppard. _He opened his eyes to see a mass of blond hair covering his chest. His arms ached because they were holding a _naked_ Jennifer in them. _What? _The scientist closed his eyes as the events of the evening came back to him.

After Sheppard and he drank some of Halling's home brew, he staggered back to his tent. Later he awoke kissing and caressing the love of his life. She was moaning and crying out at his every touch causing him to lose all control. Jennifer told him that she loved him.

Her quiet voice broke through his foggy brain. "I… We…" Jennifer refused to look up. _How could I have done this?_ During medical school she always thought of herself as superior to her classmates who had one-night stands._ It could never happen to me_, she always told them with a smug look. _Well, you didn't sleep with just anyone; you slept with the man you love. But he doesn't love me._ This thought made her want to cry.

Rodney shifted and pushed Jennifer onto her back so he could see her face. _Might as well face the music. If she is going to slap me, lets get it done with quickly so I can go back to dreaming about the most perfect night of my life. _She clutched the blanket covering them to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Sweetheart, please look at me." The gentleness and concern in Rodney's voice made her open her eyes._ Since when does he use the word sweetheart?_

"D-D-Did we?" Jennifer stammered. _Of course you did, stupid._

"Yes," a smile crossed Rodney's face, "and it was the most incredible experience I've ever had."

The physician tried to remember last night. All that seemed to come through her mind was Rodney touching her._ I can't believe I made love to Rodney and don't remember. Could my life get any worse? _She closed her eyes again praying this was all a nightmare.

"Jennifer, look at me," his voice was still gentle.

"Rodney, I'm sorry. I…"

"Jennifer did you mean it when you said you loved me last night because I meant it when I said I loved you?" His piercing blue eyes drilled into hers. Rodney held his breath waiting. _Please don't say it's not true._

"You love me?"

"Of course. You are the most incredible woman I've ever known. How could I not love you?"

Jennifer just knew he spoke the truth as a grin spread over her face. "Oh Rodney, I love you, too."

The physicist pulled his beloved doctor into his arms and kissed her senseless.

* * *

Later that morning, John Sheppard stood with Ronon and Teyla surveyed the scene before them. The Head of Research and the CMO were absolutely glowing with happiness as they sat close to each other playing with Torren. A grin spread across his face.

"Looks like Rodney is finally going to be bearable," Ronon said.

"Did you plan this?" John asked Teyla.

The beautiful Athosian only smiled as she drank her tea.

**

* * *

AN:This was a hard one to write because I don't believe Teyla would openly do anything to "set-up" her friends. If anyone has ideas of someone else, let me know. I have been requested to have a Sam story, which I'll work on.  
**


	7. Tag Team

**I don't own anything MGM does.**

**Spoilers-Sunday, The Kindred 1, 2 and The Seed**

**A/N: Huge thanks to scr1tno and dwparsnip for forcing me to keep going with these.

* * *

**

Rodney McKay was starving as usual, so he quickly made his way to John Sheppard, his team leader, seated at a large table in the center of the mess hall. When he got there he was forced to sit at the head of the table because it was full: Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard were joined by Major Evan Lorne, Radek Zelenka, and Lieutenant Laura Cadman. Conversation stopped when he arrived.

"Daedalus must be early," Rodney said as he stuffed a meatball sandwich into his mouth looking at the Lieutenant.

"How observant of you, McKay," Cadman shot back rolling her eyes. "So Radek, what kind of cake are you having made?"

"I was thinking of chocolate with butter cream frosting," the Czech scientist said looking up from his tablet.

"Who's the cake for?" McKay asked gulping down a spoonful of chocolate pudding.

"We won't tell you because you can't keep secrets," Ronon smirked at his teammate.

"Wha' ya mean," he mumbled as he chewed on a piece of banana.

"Can't you stop long enough to speak?" Ronon shot back.

"I'm hypo…"

"Enough!" the young Marine growled, "We _all_ know about your _conditions_. We are planning a surprise party for someone and as Ronon said you can't be trusted."

"Of course I can keep a secret. When is it?" the physicist asked. It was impossible for the others not to hear the disappointment in Rodney's voice.

"Tonight," his assistant, Radek, said.

"I believe Rodney can help us with this," Teyla said sweetly.

"I agree. They're practically best friends," Laura added.

Atlantis's super genius was surprised. "I didn't know it was Carson's birthday?"

"Some friend you are," Ronon laughed.

"All right kids, calm down. We need to get this done now," the military leader said.

"The party is for Jennifer," Major Lorne stated.

"Jennifer's birthday is next weekend," Rodney corrected them.

"We know that. That's why it'll be a surprise," Jennifer's "adoptive" big brother said with annoyance.

"I see, well, she also dislikes chocolate cake and butter cream frosting. Yellow cake is better or carrot cake if you want her favorite." Rodney spoke matter-of-factly as he continued eating his food.

An unseen look passed between everyone at the table.

"Wow. I had no idea you were _that_ close," John said holding a smile back as he glanced at Teyla seated across from him.

"What? No, we're not… No… not close. We just… you know… just eat together," the brilliant scientist stammered out.

"We know and that is why we are asking for your help," Zelenka said pushing his glasses up his nose and looking at his tablet again, "I am planning the menu."

"Oh great. We'll be eating crap for sure. Did anyone talk to the kitchen crew, Helen or Mario? They are friends with Jennifer and would gladly make her favorite foods."

"I knew you would be helpful, Rodney," Teyla added smiling at her teammate, "Jennifer will be happy to know you helped plan her party."

"She will?" The look on Rodney's face gave away to everyone at the table how he felt about the beautiful, young CMO.

"Absolutely," Sheppard added, "Now we just need a reason to get her here."

"A medical emergency," offered Radek.

"What? Are you stupid? No, don't answer that," Radek's supervisor waved his hand. "You don't want her running in here ready for someone choking or dying. Do any of you _geniuses_ know if she's got tonight off?"

No one replied. "It looks like I have to do everything. Fine, Sheppard find out if she's on duty, if so, go to Woolsey and get her out of it. I will take care of the food and getting her here. The rest of you… I don't know… find something useful to do." With that, Rodney got up and took his tray to the trash.

After McKay left the mess hall, everyone laughed with the exception of Evan Lorne.

"Oh, lighten up, Sir," the Lieutenant told the Major.

"I can't believe I'm helping to set them up." Evan and Jennifer were like brother and sister since she arrived.

"They compliment each other."

"Radek, who knew you were a romantic," John said smiling sweetly at the Czech.

"Very funny, Colonel. Rodney is hyperactive. Jennifer is calm."

"Rodney is arrogant and over confident. Jennifer is humble and insecure to a fault," Laura continued.

"McKay needs someone to keep track of all his ailments and Jennifer is a doctor," Ronon added.

"I need McKay to focus on his job and not dream about Keller all day. I also want my Chief Medical Officer to be able to concentrate when my team shows up in the infirmary," John continued.

"They also love each other, so of course we want them to be together," Teyla finished resting a reassuring hand on Evan's arm.

"_Although_, I don't think McKay should get off this easy." A sly grin spread over Laura's face as an idea formed in her head.

"What are you scheming, Lieutenant?" Colonel Sheppard asked.

"Well, he's going to ask her to grab dinner with him in the mess hall like they always do. What if Jennifer had a date instead and he had to fight for her attention?"

"Jennifer doesn't date anyone on Atlantis," Ronon spoke as if from experience.

"Yeah, she'll just turn him down," John added.

"Not if it's someone she already likes, a lot," Cadman was positively beaming as the idea took form in her mind.

"Who do you have in mind, Laura?" John asked.

"Why the Major of course?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" the Air Force Major asked glaring at the Marine.

"Jennifer loves you like a brother. If you showed up professing your love for her and begged her for one date, she would never turn you down. She's just too nice for that."

"Lieutenant, you have…" Lorne began.

"An excellent idea," the Air Force Lieutenant Colonel finished.

"Excuse me, Sir," Evan began.

"I'll make it worth you while. Trust me. I agree with the Lieutenant. A love worth fighting for is the best." With that the Colonel stood up and dismissed everyone. _Let the fun begin._

* * *

Jennifer sat at her desk in shock. _Did that just happen? I can't believe I didn't see that one coming._

"Ah, Jennifer, there you are," the man of her dreams said as he came strolling into her office. She was too stunned from her last visitor that she did not respond immediately.

"Hello," Rodney moved to stand next to her chair, "Are you okay?"

"What?" the doctor looked up at the man she loved and tried to get some control back. "What can I do for you, Rodney?" She started to rise out of her chair.

"No, no need to get up. I only have a minute. I wanted to let you know we'll have to have dinner late tonight. I have to finish up something really important."

"Dinner?" _Did we have a date I forgot?_ _I highly doubt I'd forget a date with Rodney. _

"Yeah, we always grab dinner before movie night. They got Iron Man tonight. I know you wanted to see it because you like Robert Downey Junior. Anyways, I'll come by and grab you around 19:40, okay?" Rodney smiled as he turned to leave.

"Rodney, I can't go to dinner with you tonight," the horrified woman said. She had been pretending that these dinners and movie nights with Rodney were dates, but they were never planned and Rodney never asked her. _An actual date with McKay and… What a nightmare. How did this happen?_

"Why not? I know you don't have to work," Rodney's smile left his face. He crossed his arms over his chest looking down at the woman he loved who was extremely pale. "Are you sick, you look pale?"

Rodney kneeled down next to her chair and put his hand on her forehead like a physician. "What are you doing?" Jennifer gasped at the contact.

"Checking your temperature. You don't feel hot. What are your symptoms?"

Jennifer could not help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. "You are not a physician. But I appreciate you looking out for me." _Like a friend. Great, my friend loves me and __**you**__ only want to be friends. My life sucks._

"Of course, I'm looking out for you. So, if you're not sick, what are you doing?"_ Maybe she knows about the party already and doesn't want to go. This might make it tricky._

"I…I…" the lovesick woman could not say it. _Deep breathe._ "I'm afraid I have a date."

"WHAT!" McKay shouted as he leaped to his feet. His yell echoed through the infirmary causing several crashes as people dropped things.

"Rodney!"

"What do you mean you have a date? You don't date," Rodney barked at Jennifer. "Who is it? Some new Marine."

"I don't date. What the hell does that mean? What do you know about my dating life?" Having never experienced Rodney's anger before, Jennifer reacted with equal ferocity. Her staff was shocked to hear her and McKay yelling at each other. They all thought the two of them were secretly dating.

"I know that you turn everyone down and that the Marines tell all the new recruits that you are "hands off". Is it a new guy!" Rodney's face was scarlet. Whoever had asked the woman he loved out was going to pay. _His showers were never going to be warm again and that was the beginning of his heartache._

"Hands off? Where do you come up with this crap? I have never had anyone I wanted to date ask me out until now. But I can assure you, Meredith, that I will be seeing him a lot from now on," Jennifer had never been this furious in all her life making her say things that were not true. "Now get out of my infirmary so I can get ready for my date!"

"This is not the end of this conversation!" the irate physicist yelled as he left the infirmary.

Rodney ran to Sheppard's office. He could think of no one else to help him with this._ It had to be some new soldier who was not indoctrinated by the others. It was common knowledge among all soldiers that you did not ask Jennifer Keller out. Major Lorne or Colonel Sheppard would skin you alive._

The Colonel's door was closed, but that did not stop the angry man from barging in. Major Lorne and Colonel Sheppard were meeting and both looked up.

"McKay?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.

* * *

**Meanwhile- Back in the Infirmary**

* * *

As soon as Rodney left, Carson Beckett showed up to find a distraught Jennifer holed in her office.

"What's going on?" Carson asked Marie, the head nurse, who was outside the CMO's door.

"Jennifer is very upset. She had a visit by Major Lorne and then Doctor McKay and _they_ got into a big fight."

Carson swiped his hand over the door control and walked in to find his young friend sitting on the floor leaning against her desk with a red face. _Damn that stupid man. Only __**he**__ could have the love of a wonderful woman and screw it up. I'm gonna kill him._

"Jennifer," the ex-CMO slid down beside her. "What's wrong, love? What were you and Rodney fighting about?"

"Carson," Jennifer threw her arms around her old mentor.

"Okay, love. Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."

The young physician took a deep breath. She realized she was being an idiot. Her staff must think she's crazy. "Lorne came to tell me he loves me and wanted one date with me. Tonight. I was shocked. I had no idea he felt like that. I love him like a brother but not romantically. But I agreed because he was on his knees begging. Then…" Her voice began to shake again and tears welled up in her eyes.

"What happened then, love?" Carson was shocked as well. He had not been back long and knew Evan was very protective of Jennifer, but he thought it was like a brother.

"Rodney."

"I heard he yelled at you." The Scot was furious at the Canadian, but knew he needed to hear what Jennifer had to say before he went to give Rodney a piece of his mind.

"Rodney actually asked me out on a date for tonight. What was the chance of that happening? The man I love, who only wanted to be friends, suddenly asks me out when my friend tells me he loves me." Jennifer's eyes got as big as saucers and all color drained from her face. Her old friend had the same expression. "Oh! I can't believe I said that."

"Och love, you definitely know how to pick them."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, here is what we are going to do. You are going to get out of here and get ready for your date tonight."

"Carson, I'm not going anywhere with Lorne now. I don't care how he feels about me. He'll have to suck it up. I need to find Rodney and apologize. Now that I think about it, he might have been jealous."

"I will fix this. Now go to your quarters, love to get ready for your date." He gave her a quick squeeze and kiss on the forehead.

"Major Lorne, where are you?" Carson said in a cold voice into his earwig.

"I'm in Colonel Sheppard's office," the Major responded.

"Good, I'll be there."

* * *

**Earlier in Sheppard's office**

* * *

"John, you have got to do something about your new recruits," growled McKay as he stormed in.

"What are you talking about?" John was seated behind his desk with his hands crossed over his stomach and was leaning back in his chair. Major Lorne was standing by the desk ready to leave. "Major, you might as well stay."

"Yes, Major, you are closer to the new guys than Sheppard anyways." SGA1's scientist was extremely agitated; eyes flicking between Sheppard and Lorne, hands waving around; pacing between the window and door.

"Do you want to sit down, Doc?" the Major asked.

"No, no time. John, one of your guys asked Jennifer out for tonight and she said yes." The genius said it with so much seriousness that he could have just said the ZPM is empty or the Wraith are here. A glance passed between the two officers.

"What do you want me to do about it? Just tell her to bring him to the mess hall at 20:00," the Air Force Colonel was determined to make McKay sweat. He had an inkling as to how his best friend was planning on getting the girl to the party and this threw a big curveball at him.

Major Lorne had not wanted to go along with Cadman's idea to start with. Now that he saw how upset the astrophysicist was, he regretted it even more. It was pretty well known that Evan did not care much for McKay. His whining and complaining was too much for the career soldier to deal with. However, it was obvious to Evan that Rodney really liked Jennifer. He had known her a little longer than McKay because they traveled on the Daedalus to Atlantis together, but he did not know her favorite cake or the exact date of her birthday. "I'm sure if you asked Jennifer out, she'd drop this other guy."

"Well, she didn't." Realizing what he told these two men seemed to suck all the energy out of McKay and he slumped against the wall.

"Sorry," Evan pressed his earwig and listened. "I'm in Colonel Sheppard's office."

"What's that about?" Sheppard asked.

"Carson's on his way up. He's looking for me," Lorne said.

"Good, we can tell him about the party," Sheppard replied.

By the time Carson Beckett stepped into John's office, he was so angry he was ready to punch a wall. _How could Evan do this to Jennifer? He was taking advantage of her friendship. And Rodney. I'll track him down next._ To his immense pleasure, both men were standing there. Since Lorne was closer and smaller than Beckett, he grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him into the wall.

"Bloody hell, Major, what were you thinking! How could you mess with Jennifer like this!"

"WHAT?" came the shocked voice of Rodney behind Carson.

"I'll deal with you in a minute!" Carson yelled over his shoulder.

"All right, break it up." Sheppard moved to separate Carson and Lorne. For his part, Lorne showed great restraint. "Carson what's wrong with you?"

"Do you know what he did to Jennifer?"

"Yes, I do, but it's not what you think," John realized this was getting out of hand. _Never go along with Cadman again._

Carson backed away from Lorne who adjusted his jacket and let out a breath. Sheppard backed away. No one noticed Rodney approaching until his fist connected with the side of Evan Lorne's face. Carson and Sheppard stared as Lorne, who was taken totally off guard, fell back into a potted plant in the corner. The look on McKay's face told Evan he was in trouble.

Sheppard saw the look and moved between Rodney and Lorne. He hit his earwig to call in the cavalry, "Ronon and Teyla to my office. Immediately."

"Brilliant right hook, Rodney," Carson said. "But don't think you aren't getting a piece of my mind later."

McKay was unaware of anyone or anything being said or done around him. The blood was pounding in his ears. His vision was fixed on Lorne who was trying to pull himself up on a bookcase in the corner. Sheppard moved into his path, so Rodney tried to shove his leader out of the way. The voice that came out of his mouth was devoid of any emotion except hatred. "You bastard. How dare you?"

"Enough, McKay. Trust me it's not what you think," John said, as he had to physically hold Rodney away from his second in command. Rodney put a move on Sheppard he must have learned from Ronon that ended up with Sheppard behind him and Lorne slammed into the wall a second time by Rodney. It was Evan's lucky day because Ronon arrived to pull Rodney off.

"I have had enough. No one can ever listen to Laura Cadman again," Sheppard yelled. "Teyla, call Zelenka and get him up here."

Everyone in the room looked to John for an explanation. To Carson and Rodney, he said, "Sit down guys. We'll bring you up to speed."

"You are going to tell Rodney about the plan?" Teyla asked. She was standing next to her teammates as Ronon continued to restrain McKay.

"Tell me what?" Rodney's breathing was more under control as he struggled to get away from Ronon.

"Have a seat," Sheppard offered.

Radek Zelenka came in. Evan left the corner to stand near the door rubbing his jaw.

"All right, boys and girls, we learned three valuable lessons today. One, don't ever listen to Laura Cadman if romance is involved, two, Rodney has learned a few things from Ronon and Teyla over the years and three he is absolutely head-over-heels for our Chief Medical Officer."

"Wha-What? Head over? No… Jennifer… We're not…" Rodney began to be cut off by Ronon.

"Give it a rest, McKay, and sit." The Satedan pushed him into a chair.

"Major what happened to your face?" Radek asked looking at Lorne. Evan just sighed and shook his head.

"What'n the bloody hell is going on here? I just get back to find my dearest friend upset. Someone better explain to me what is going on or so help me, I'll order rectal exams for the lot of you!" the Scottish doctor was truly pissed off. He and Jennifer had been friends for over ten years and he was fiercely protective of his protégé.

"Next week is Jennifer's birthday, so we are having a surprise party for her tonight," Sheppard began. He was reclining in his office chair; hands folded over stomach, and feet up on a drawer.

Carson had an eyebrow raised and looked critically around the room realizing these were all the people Jennifer considered her family. A smile spread across his face as he saw where this was going, "Continue Colonel."

"I asked this crew what we should get Jennifer for her birthday besides the party and Teyla said, McKay."

At this, Rodney's head snapped toward Sheppard so quick, Carson thought it would break his neck. "What!"

"Yes, genius, Jennifer likes you. We all know how you suck at this stuff, so we tricked you into helping. Zelenka said you felt the same way about Jennifer, but some of us were not certain…"

"So we put you to the test. Her birthday, favorite foods, etcetera, etcetera," his Czech assistant continued for John.

"Which I must say you passed with flying colors. Including your protective streak," the Air Force Major added grudgingly_. I guess I'll be seeing a lot of McKay so I better get used to the guy._

"So you are not in love with Jennifer?" Rodney asked a hopeful look on his face.

"No, that was Sheppard and Lieutenant let's-torment-McKay's brilliant idea," Evan glared at his CO.

"I didn't want you to have too easy of a time. It's the thrill of the chase, you know," John said looking sheepish. He never saw Rodney for the possessive type. Jennifer was the object of a lot of pent-up desire around here, so his best friend was going to be reading the riot act to a lot of men.

Rodney was in shock. His friends were trying to set them up. _Jennifer Keller is interested in me as more than a friendly companion. _He could not believe how much his luck with woman had changed for the first time in his life.

* * *

**Concurrently in the infirmary**

* * *

Jennifer straightened her uniform and closed her laptop to head back to her quarters for a long shower. She had no idea what Carson was up to, but she trusted him implicitly. Even though this Carson had not recruited her to Atlantis and showed her around during the two weeks before his death, she loved him dearly. _But, I'm a big girl and need to get out of my own scrapes. _Jennifer was raising her hand to press her earwig, when Richard Woolsey's voice called her name.

"Doctor Keller, I know you have the rest of the afternoon off, but we have a minor situation," the expedition leader said.

"Of course, Mister Woolsey." The CMO welcomed something medical to focus on. It would have been a long five hours waiting for twenty hundred hours to arrive. "What do you need from me?"

"The village leader on M8X-998 only wants _you_ to come and look at his daughter. Apparently, she is feeling ill. Normally, I would not…" Woolsey started.

Jennifer cut him off from a long explanation, "I'll be in the Gateroom in ten minutes."

The physician knew exactly what was going on at M8X-998. The elder in question thought Jennifer reminded him of his beloved, eldest daughter who died from the Hoffan virus that Michael spread, so he only wanted her to take care of his family. This issue with his youngest daughter involved her being pregnant and not wanting to tell her father. The young doctor imagined the girl' pregnancy was beginning to be too obvious to hide. Captain Morris and his team were waiting for her in the Gateroom. Chuck dialed up the address and they went through seconds before the pow-wow in Sheppard's office let out.

* * *

Rodney left Sheppard's office with a grin on his face and a spring in his step. _They could not all be wrong. Especially Teyla. If she thinks Jennifer likes me, it must be true. _Since he had several hours before he needed to pick up Jennifer, he headed to the mess hall to confirm the food and to botany to get a huge bouquet of flowers.

A couple hours later after getting side-tracked in a newly discovered lab, he called her on his earwig, "McKay to Doctor Keller." There was no response. _She must still be mad at me. _The physicist decided he should go look for her instead of asking anyone.

After a half-hour of searching all the public places she could be; the infirmary, his lab, the mess hall, the gym and calling her at least a hundred times, the super genius was very concerned. He began calling the other co-conspirators. Teyla, Carson and Laura were sent to her quarters, Zelenka was using the scanners on the city, Lorne, Ronon and some other off-duty soldiers were patrolling for her in the lower levels where she sometimes ran, and Sheppard called on the citywide PA system for her.

"Rodney," Teyla's voice sounded in his earwig as he tried to hack into Jennifer's computer to see what she was doing last, "We cannot get into her quarters…"

"On my way with the override," Rodney said grabbing his tablet and running to the transporter. Once he got her door opened and entered, they saw she was not there. "Where could she have gone?" he asked with panic in his voice. _How did I screw it up so badly that she ran off to hide?_

"I'm certain she will show up," Carson tried to calm Rodney. He felt his friend was getting worked up too much. Knowing how Jennifer felt about the cantankerous physicist, Carson did not think she truly ran away. "Ladies, we should go get ready for the party."

Rodney looked around Jennifer's quarters, noting the neatly made bed and tidy desk. It really did not look like she had been there all day. He paced for a while and then stepped out into the corridor to see if he could see her coming.

Chuck noticed Doctor McKay standing outside Jennifer's quarters. "Hey, Doc, did Jennifer get back yet?"

"What? Get back from where?" Rodney stepped in front of the gate technician causing him to stop.

"Huh, oh, she went off world a few hours ago," the younger man answered.

"She's due back soon?" Rodney felt hope bubbling up inside him. _Jennifer did not run away._ "I thought she was off duty?"

"The village asked for her and Woolsey asked her to go." Chuck suppressed a smile. His fellow countryman was terrible at acting nonchalant.

"Woolsey," the Canadian scientist was really mad their leader did not respond to Sheppard's citywide explaining that Jennifer was off world. "Thanks, Chuck."

"No problem, Doctor McKay. Glad to help. See you at the party," he said as he strolled off to see his date.

Rodney went back into her quarters and sunk down onto her sofa waiting for her.

* * *

Jennifer and the team came through the gate during a change to the security detail, so there were many people moving around in the Gateroom, she left unnoticed. When she entered her darkened quarters, she realized how long she had been gone. There was moonlight coming through her curtains, so Jennifer did not put on her room lights as she pulled off her jacket and kicked off her shoes. Suddenly, with the distraction of the mission gone, she let out a long sigh and thought about how to deal with Rodney McKay and Evan Lorne.

The beautiful woman had just pulled her shirt over her head when she heard another sound in her quarters. The first thing she did was scream, which caused her intruder to scream as well, with a rather masculine voice. The terrified woman hit the light switch by her bed and pulled a blanket over her chest.

Rodney had been here many times watching movies and always left wanting much more than her laughter and witty remarks. Being alone in her quarters allowed him to take everything in; the teddy bears on her bed, the pictures of her with her parents, the degrees on her wall, the bookcase full of science books and her extensive movie collection. Her quarters perfectly reflected the woman she was and he could not help but love her. As he relaxed onto her sofa, he noticed her scent lingering in the room. As he took deeper breaths to fill him with it and reclined back, he fell asleep. When he awoke with a start, he saw Jennifer pulling her t-shirt over her head while bathed in moonlight and let out a gasp. That led to her screaming and him joining in because he was still in a sleepy haze.

"Rodney! What are you doing here?" Jennifer could not believe he was in her quarters. _What was going on?_

"Waiting to apologize to you?" Rodney got over his shock, stood up and approached her as she clutched the blanket for dear life.

"Apologize? Ah, sure… you're forgiven," Jennifer could not back up without climbing on her bed.

Rodney stopped inches from the woman he loved staring into her eyes. The blanket was wrapped under her arms leaving her shoulders bare. "I'd rather stay," he said as if under a trance. The usually uncertain man reached out to pull her close and leaned in to kiss her.

Jennifer thought she was dreaming. "What about dinner?" She lost all thought and leaned forward to close the distance faster. When their lips touched, the blanket fell unnoticed to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Rodney pulled back after a long time, " We need to get ready."

"Huh, get ready?" Jennifer said breathlessly as she began to unzip Rodney's jacket, "Okay."

"Jennifer, what are you doing?" Rodney grabbed her hands stopping her.

"Getting you ready." Jennifer said still in a passion-induced trance.

"Jennifer, we need to get ready for the… dinner," Rodney caught himself. She might not know about the party and he did want to surprise her for her birthday.

They stood for a moment staring into each other's eyes and they both realized simultaneously that Jennifer was clad in a bra. Her face turned scarlet and Rodney's broke into a sly grin. "Although dessert before hand might not be a bad idea."

* * *

"Surprise!" Most of the Atlantis expedition shouted as Rodney and Jennifer entered the mess hall arm-in-arm. They were a half-hour late with flushed faces and wet hair. This was a fact that Laura Cadman pointed out to her partners in crime.

"See, I knew it would all work out. You folks never believe in me," the tap-dancing Marine smiled over her beer.

Rodney explained everything to Jennifer as she greeted folks while making her way to get a drink and some food. He was at her side as she blew out her candles and had some idea that he was involved in her wish.

A while later, the new lovers stood surrounded by their closest friends and Jennifer laughed along with them as they described their plot. She especially liked the part where Carson was going to take on Rodney and Lorne. Her physician's eye noticed a large bruise forming around Lorne's left jaw.

"Evan, what happened to your face?" Jennifer asked.

"Ask you boyfriend."

"Rodney did that?"

"Yes," her close friend muttered and then took a long drink of beer.

"Well it serves you right for listening to Laura. Where is she anyways?"

"Probably hiding," Evan said looking around.

"Cadman!" Jennifer yelled.

"Jen, I know you must hate me but..." Laura emerged from the crowd looking sheepish.

"Laura, how could I hate you? You gave Rodney the courage to ask me out. That's makes this the best birthday!" Jennifer pulled Laura into a hug. With a big smile still on her lips, she whispered into Laura's ear. "But if you torment Rodney again, for your next gynecological exam, I'll leave my instruments in the freezer." A look of pure terror crossed the Marine's face.

John Sheppard wondered what Rodney's new girlfriend said to put a look of horror on Laura's face. His chuckling slowed as she turned her head toward him. "I need a word, Colonel."

"Call me John, Jennifer," Since she was dating his best friend, he might as well be less formal.

"Sorry to mix business with pleasure, but Captain Steward's team came into contact with a weird pathogen while escorting Doctor Allston on M3P-233." Jennifer noticed John perk up when she mentioned the beautiful Doctor Allston's name.

"Anything serious," he asked trying to seem detached.

Jennifer took all the effort she could muster to hold her smile in, "Only if they are sexually active. The pathogen… I'm afraid I cannot put it delicately… increases fertility levels."

"WHAT?" John turned and ran from the mess hall. Jennifer was laughing hysterically because she knew Doctor Allston was quite intimate with the Colonel.

"You are evil and I love you for it." She was pulled back into the arms of the best birthday present she could ever receive.

"You love me?"

"Just figured I'd give you your birthday wish as soon as possible," the physicist leaned forward to kiss her.

"That's pretty arrogant, McKay." She dodged his lips and they landed on her neck causing her to try to pull away even more. They were standing in a crowded room.

"Tell me you love me and I won't embarrass you," McKay breathed into her ear.

"I love you, but this is blackmail and payback is a bitch," her flashed a mischievous grin and kissed him senseless.

**

* * *

A/N: I know this was long and involved, but I thought a team effort was called for at some point with these two.**


	8. Semper Fidelis

**MGM owns all characters except my OCs.**

**Spoilers: Anything before Lost Tribe**

**Some dialogue taken from GateWorld**

**A/N Thanks to dwparsnip and scr1tno. My muses!**

* * *

**The Marines (some were in the series):**

**Sergeant Tommy Stackhouse-In the first season of Atlantis**

**Master Gunnery Sergeant Dwayne Richards (OC)- Master Gunny  
**

**Sergeant Dusty Mehra-In Season 5 Whispers**

**Gunnery Sergeant Robert "Warry" Warrington (OC)- Gunny  
**

**Semper Fidelis-Always Faithful (US Marine Corp motto)**

* * *

"You better back off," Sergeant Tommy Stackhouse told the three F-302 pilots from the Apollo.

The Daedalus and Apollo were both on Atlantis for some joint maneuvers. The Apollo personnel seldom came to Atlantis, so Woolsey allowed the soldiers to have some loud music and beer in the mess hall. It resulted in a bar room setting with all the liquor-induced stupidity that would be expected. These particular pilots had surrounded Jennifer Keller on her way into the mess hall looking for her friends. They would not let her pass without agreeing to drink or dance with them. Tommy just arrived with some other Marines and they immediately moved in to rescue their beloved Chief Medical Officer.

"Back off, Jarhead. Let the lady spend some time with real men," the tallest and most drunk of the pilots said.

"I don't want to spend any time with you fly boys," Jennifer shot back. She had been insulated from this behavior her duration on Atlantis. _The soldiers here are nice._

"You heard the lady, so move along before we move you," Sergeant Robert Warrington said with a deep voice. Sergeant Warrington was almost as big as Ronon and looked just as mean.

"Is that a threat, Grunt!" The insult hung in the air.

Jennifer was afraid a fight was going to break out. Behind her stood Warrington, Sergeant Dwayne Richards, who was not as tall as Warrington but was just as big, and Sergeant Dusty Mehra; a female Marine who could take down all her squad mates and Ronon in sparring sessions. "Enough!"

"You guys are going to apologize to Doctor Keller and get out of her way or we're going to tell her boyfriend and you don't want to cross him," Tommy threatened.

"That's right. If you think we can kick your ass, you can't imagine the pain he'll subject you to," Dusty threw in.

_What are they talking about? I don't have a boyfriend._ Jennifer looked up at the Marines surrounding her. She decided to play along, but was not sure what they were up to. "That's right. Move along and I won't mention it."

Something in the eyes of all the four Marines made the pilots back off mumbling under their breath about 'all the good ones are taken'.

They were all laughing now that the pilots left.

"What are you guys talking about? I don't have a boyfriend," Jennifer said between fits of laughter.

"Of course you do. You are the most un-touchable woman on Atlantis," Tommy said as he turned toward the makeshift bar. He and Dwayne grabbed beers for them all and they moved to a table near the balcony. The physician joined the crowd of Marines who always made her feel welcomed.

"Un-touchable? I really have no idea what you are talking about," she laughed as she racked her brain until it came to her. "Oh, I don't think Lorne is that intimidating."

Laughter erupted causing Dusty to spew her beer at Robert. "You're disgusting," his deep baritone growled.

"We know the Major is a big brother to you," Tommy said.

Jennifer passed some napkins to the big Sergeant. "If it's not Lorne, who are you talking about? Ronon?"

"You like Ronon?" Shock was apparent in Stackhouse's voice.

"What? No, I didn't say that. I just thought people might think… I mean we... Never mind," the doctor stammered. _Don't need to embarrass Ronon._

"You two have **nothing** in common," Dwayne said in a soft voice. Sergeant Richards did not speak often and never loudly, but everyone paused to listen to him when he did.

"Yeah, it would have to be all about the sex, which would not be a problem for me, but you are kind of a good girl," Dusty said making quotes in the air when she said 'good girl'.

This caused Jennifer to spew her beer. At least she did not get it on anyone. The three male Marines laughed as well.

"Do you guys sit around thinking about my love life?" the surprised woman, who was crimson-colored by now, asked.

"No one notices us. We just stand around the gate room or babysit you geniuses but we know everything that goes on here. That is why we know who your boyfriend is and I can assure you if anyone makes a move on you, they _will_ be sorry," Dwayne continued in his soothing voice. He had been in the Corp for over twenty years with a rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant. In addition to being a leader by rank, the younger soldiers looked to him for wisdom and advice all the time.

The physician first met him in a most unfortunate situation. He was eating cookies someone got from home and did not know they contained sesame, which he is allergic to. The CMO was in the mess hall and knew from studying his file that he had allergies. She quickly found his Epi-pen and saved his life gaining another admirer.

"Wow. I would love to know who this secret admirer is." Jennifer's natural curiosity was peaked. Looking around the table at the Marines, she waited for a reply.

"Just as we cannot divulge military secrets, we cannot _just_ tell you," Tommy said holding back a smile at the look of annoyance that passed the beautiful doctor's face.

Before Jennifer could speak, she got a call and headed to the infirmary. "Don't think I will forget this conversation. You better hope I don't get any of you in the infirmary or I _will_ extract your secret."

The laughter was tempered by the knowledge that their brilliant CMO could torture them just as much as her boyfriend.

"Now what?" Dusty asked taking a long drink of beer.

"Now we reel 'em both in," Tommy said with a grin.

"Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean he can be a real ass," Dusty said.

"He is the bravest man I've ever met," Dwayne added. Tommy and Robert nodded in agreement.

"You weren't here in the beginning like all of us. He risked his life repeatedly for us. He still does but things have calmed down a lot," Dwayne continued. "You must remember he is not military and has no special training."

"Yeah, we weren't here more than a couple days when he almost died saving us from this energy cloud that tried to deplete all the energy producing devices in the city," Tommy stated.

"McKay walked into it with some device he found to shield himself," Robert added with real admiration in his voice.

"Wow. I guess I pegged him wrong. He seemed like an arrogant, whiny scientist like most of them, so maybe he is worthy of Doctor Keller," Dusty said.

"Well at least Jennifer sees past it. He really does adore her. It's sweet," Dwayne said draining his bottle of beer.

"I haven't seen it," Dusty finished hers as well. "I've seen Ronon checking her out, but not McKay."

"That's because he doesn't 'check her out'," Dwayne replied as he started getting up. "You need to watch closely. Use your recon training."

* * *

The female Marine had several opportunities in the next couple of days to observe them. At the next sparring session Dwayne asked her what she saw.

"Well, in the mess hall, he always lets her go before him in line. He seemed to always need something extra when she needed something, so he'd get it so she didn't have to get up. He never interrupts her when she talks and if they disagree, he is never condescending or does he automatically dismiss her thoughts like he does with everyone else. You're right, Master Gunny, he's crazy about her," Dusty finished her debrief to the team.

The male Marines nodded at Dusty's assessment.

"But how does she feel about him?" Tommy asked.

"She loves him," Robert said without hesitation.

"How can you be sure?" Tommy asked wiping sweat from his face while dodging Dusty's banto stick.

"She never left his side when he was sick and dying. Day and night she was in that infirmary trying to save his life. She didn't eat or sleep," Robert said in his deep voice. "I was with them on that planet. She did brain surgery in a cave to save him."

"Okay, on to phase two, then," Dwayne said as they grabbed their stuff and headed toward the showers.

The Marines were on their way when they heard voices in the next sparring room. They stopped before passing the doorway as they overheard Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex.

Ronon's deep voice asked, "What?"

Next they heard McKay speaking fast and with a nervous quiver in his voice. "Okay, here's the thing: I've been thinking and, uh, I need to know your intentions."

Eyebrows rose among the group that could not help but keep listening. _What was he talking about?_

"Intentions?" They heard Ronon answer

"With Jennifer."

"I don't have any intentions."

Shocked looks were exchanged. _Did McKay just confront Ronon about Jennifer?_

"Oh! Okay. Good." They could barely hear McKay speaking.

"Wait. What d'you mean by intentions?"

"I mean, are you interested in her in a ... romantic fashion?"

"No."

"Good!"

"Wait."

"What?" McKay sounded pissed.

"Maybe I do ... have intentions," Ronon answered.

_Oh shit_, thought Stackhouse. _This might be a problem._

"Oh." McKay groaned.

"Do you have intentions?"

"Yes, well, of course I do -- that's why I was asking you."

"So what are we gonna do about it?"

"I don't know." The genius sounded defeated already to the soldiers. "I'm not gonna fight you for her, if that's what you're thinking."

"Great!"

"I'm not gonna step aside, either, so we're just gonna have to let her decide."

"Okay," Ronon finished.

It appeared the conversation was over, so they quickly retreated to their previous sparring room.

"OK. So may the best man win?" Dusty heard McKay say before he left the room. The career soldier had to run out of the way as the genius came down the hall with his head hung down.

"Okay, Master Gunny and Gunny, you know how to call them," Dusty said slightly out of breath nodding to Dwayne and Robert. "But now Ronon is going to be trying to get her attention. Not sure if McKay can hold up to that."

"Well, we better make sure he gets a fair shot at then, shouldn't we?" the wiser man said.

* * *

Another interruption occurred to keep the Marines from enacting a plan. The Daedalus arrived along with Daniel Jackson, which resulted in Jennifer leaving with Ronon, Stackhouse and Warrington.

Sergeant Richards overheard Ronon and Jennifer leaving. It was obvious the big Satedan was smitten with the young doctor. She said farewell to the physicist who was staying with the archaeologist to explore an ancient lab. Dwayne smiled to himself. _She really likes him. When this nonsense with trying to 'cure' the Wraith is over, we need to get them together._

Another couple weeks went by after the destruction of the Stargate and installation of a new gate before off world missions restarted. It appeared the ex-Runner and the doctor had a falling out. They were never together any longer for meals and Jennifer asked Dusty to take over her sparring lessons. It was during one of these that the plan was sprung.

"You've picked up a lot, Doc," Dusty was slightly out of breath as she finished her session with Jennifer.

"Yeah, I have a lot of energy to burn," the physician said slightly out of breath as well.

"Really, you seem busy all the time to me." _Pent-up energy that needs an outlet, huh?_ Dusty laughed. "Can I ask a huge favor from you?"

"Sure, Sarge. I owe you for picking up my training."

"Well, the guys and I have an off world survival test that we need to take. We need a physician to accompany us. Could you or one of your staff come? It's only for two days and a night. We have to rough it so you'd have to stay in a tent and eat MRE's."

"I'd love to go. Who else is going?" Jennifer thought spending a couple days with a bunch of Marines on a nice quite planet would give her time to clear her head and think about her next move with Doctor Rodney McKay.

"Warrington, Stackhouse, and Richards. We also need someone to fly us in; Stack can't do it since he's involved in the exercise. We get dropped, need to work our way to a certain location to pick up something, camp out over night and make our way back to the drop zone. We'll be on radio silence unless something goes wrong."

"Sounds like fun. I survived being hunted by cannibals with Teyla. This cannot be as bad," she laughed and Dusty joined in.

Meanwhile, Sergeants Stackhouse and Richards approached McKay and Zelenka who were making some modification to a jumper. The two scientists were trying to increase maneuverability so they could be used on forested worlds better. If the trees were too close to the gate, the jumper could not get the right angle for ascent without hitting trees. They were trying to angle the drive pods to assist with that.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a proposal for you Doctor McKay," Dwayne said. He found that speaking to McKay as if he were a superior helped immensely when dealing with the genius.

Rodney looked up from his laptop. He always enjoyed working with the oldest of the base's Sergeants. The man knew how to show respect and also was a fellow severe allergy sufferer. The astrophysicist remembered watching Jennifer save the man's life after he ate something that could have killed him. Rodney lived with that fear every day as well. "What can I do for you, Sergeant?"

"We need to go off world for a survival exercise; two days and one night. We would like to have a jumper there in case we have some medical emergency so we could get back quickly."

"You want me to fly you? What about Lorne or Sheppard?" Rodney thought it strange but flattering that the military man had come to him.

"They should not be around during the test. I need to grade the other Sergeants without fear of a CO looking over their shoulder. I thought you might want to try out your jumper modifications. It is a forested planet."

"Oh, you've been paying attention to what we're doing. I always knew you were not as dumb as the others," McKay said turning back to his work. "Sure, I'll do it if there are no disasters around here and my schedule fits. When are you going?"

"This Friday and Saturday."

"Okay, how many of you?" The scientist asked while reconfiguring a few crystals.

"Only five of us," Dwayne could not help but smiling.

Tommy Stackhouse was amazed at how Master Gunny dealt with McKay. There was just enough respect and admiration in his voice to stroke the massive ego of the smartest man on the base. _Wait until he finds out who__ else going. Not sure he'll care about jumper modification then._

* * *

Friday morning, Jennifer dressed in her black leather jacket with black pants and her boots. Being sure to pack a bunch of power bars, extra socks and a spare battery for her laptop, she headed toward the armory. After the incidents with Teyla, Kiryk and on the Daedalus, she vowed to always take a side arm with her whenever she went off world. Even with a bunch of heavily armed Marines she wanted to be helpful and not a hindrance. A sense of adventure filled her causing her to smile brightly at everyone she passed on her way to the jumper bay.

"Jennifer," the voice of Rodney McKay sounded from behind her.

Feeling her heart flutter, she turned and smiled at him. "Good morning Rodney. What can I do for you?"

She noticed that Rodney was also dressed in black and carried a pack. _Could Rodney be flying them? No, it would have to be a soldier._

"I was going to say I'm missing movie night tonight and wanted you to nab the DVD because I want to see Tropic Thunder, but it looks like you're headed out, too." The physicist spoke rapidly because his heart rate and blood pressure always increased around the beautiful woman.

"Yes, where are you going?" Jennifer turned to walk toward the transport and Rodney fell into step along side of her.

"I'm flying some Marines to M3R-909. We made some modifications to the jumper to make it more maneuverable in a forest environment. I get to test the jumper and the Marines get to do their thing. What are you doing?"

Jennifer was shocked. _Two days and one night with Rodney and my Marine buddies. Did I just fall into an alternate reality?_ "I'm… uh… going with you."

"What?" McKay stopped walking and stared. _Two days and one night with Jennifer and some Marines. Did I just fall into an alternate reality?_

"They need a medical escort in case they get hurt. It looks like we are babysitting them for once," Jennifer could not hide her smile if it meant her life. Joy could not describe the euphoria she felt at getting all this time with Rodney. They would not be alone, but the Marines were really good at seeming invisible.

"Doctor Keller. Doctor McKay," the deep baritone of Sergeant Warrington came from behind them. He and Dusty approached in full tactical gear.

"It looks like you guys are going to war," Jennifer smiled at the Marines.

"We take these exercises very seriously because we could be in this situation anytime," Dusty replied noticing the slight flush on the two geniuses cheeks. Unable to contain a smile she continued, "Looks like you geared up too."

"Yup, even hit the armory to sign out a side arm. I'm not getting caught off world again without one no matter how many guns are with me," Jennifer smiled as they all stepped into the transport.

"Well, you can stay in the jumper. It'll be save there," Rodney added as he glanced down at his feet. _I can't believe I just said that._ _What the hell would you do in the jumper with Jennifer for a couple of days and one night?_ The answer to that question left him rather uncomfortable, as he still had to walk.

"I think I need to be on the ground if anyone needs me," the physician said a little breathlessly. _What could we do to occupy ourselves for a couple days in a jumper?_ Feeling uncomfortable, she quickly exited the transport to see Sergeant Richards and Stackhouse outside the jumper talking to Major Lorne.

"Jennifer, do you have a minute?" the Major said when he say her.

"Sure Major, what's up?" She always used his rank around his Marines. They were great friends, but Jennifer knew many soldiers thought they were _more_ than friends. She did not want to add to that rumor.

Rodney quickly walked into the jumper where Zelenka was finishing up some work.

"Everything good to go?" he asked his second in command.

"Yes. Is Jennifer going with you?" Radek was certain Rodney would get little work done now. He tried to hide his grin.

"Yeah. She needs to be there in case anyone gets hurt," the lead scientist sat in the pilot's seat and reached under the console to tighten some things. Glancing out the window, he saw a heated conversation going on between Major Lorne and the woman he loved. Sergeant Richards was walking over to interject himself. Rodney continued to watch what was going on in case he needed to get involved. Aware that the Major and Jennifer were close friends, this did not seem to make any sense. Lorne was now in the face of his most senior sergeant, who seemed to be taking it in stride. Jennifer was stomping away from them toward the jumper with an angry expression.

"I guess the Major doesn't think it's a good idea for Jennifer to go with you," Radek said.

"Yeah. Wonder why," the astrophysicist turned to see an angry Jennifer Keller enter the rear of the jumper shoving her bag in an overhead and sitting down with a loud 'hmmfph'.

Rodney immediately got up and went to the rear to stand near her. "Are you okay?"

"Why do all you _guys_ think I'm useless? I did convince Kiryk to trust me and helped secure the other hostages on the Daedalus. I'm not the same simple, little country _girl_ I was a year and a half ago," Jennifer was ranting like he did and it was pretty hot to see her eyes blazing and hands waving to make her point. "You're my best friend. Don't you think I've toughened up?"

"I'm your best friend?" Rodney was shocked. He came back to offer his shoulder and to badmouth Major Lorne, but he did not expect a compliment of this magnitude from Jennifer.

"Of course. There is no one else around here that understands what its like for people like us," the medical genius started to get her breathing under control. _How could Lorne order me not to go? I'm a lot stronger than he thinks!_

The Marines were bringing gear up the ramp and Radek was trying to pass them on the way out.

"Why don't you sit up front with me?" Rodney asked trying to regain some composure after being told he was this amazing woman's best friend. _It's something. Best friend then boyfriend, right? Wrong and you know it. Being a friend is the kiss of death!_

"Sure," she jumped up and followed him into the cockpit taking the co-pilot's seat usually occupied by Rodney.

Once the Marines and their gear were loaded, Sergeant Richards came into the cockpit. "We are ready to go Doctor McKay. Doctor Keller, Major Lorne realized he was out of line and will apologize when we get back tomorrow. He said you could even spar with him to unleash your anger on him."

Jennifer laughed at that statement. Leave it up to her favorite Marine to make her laugh when she wanted to punch someone. "Well at least he thinks I'm capable of that."

"He is really concerned about you. You must admit you have had a run of bad luck off world lately. I told him we would all die protecting you if we needed to. Including Doctor McKay."

"Huh… Uh… sure," Rodney stammered out as he tried to concentrate on taking the jumper out. He had never flown with a _distraction_ sitting next to him before. The previous times he flew with Jennifer, she was always behind him._ I_ _didn't realize this cockpit was so small._

"Right. We know who is more valuable to Atlantis and it's not me," Jennifer laughed. She never sat in the copilot's seat before. The view was very different as they lowered through the floor into the Gateroom.

"Speaking from personal experience, you are the most important person here," Sergeant Richards said squeezing her shoulder and heading to the back.

"I agree," Rodney whispered trying to keep his brain focused on flying and eyes straight ahead.

"McKay to control. Ready to go."

"You are cleared to go, Doctor McKay," the voice of Chuck the technician came through his ear.

"Here we go," the genius guided the jumper through the gate breathing a sigh of relieve that he did not crash with the most beautiful woman he knew seated next to him.

"What was up with the Major?" Tommy asked after Sergeant Richards sat down.

"He's afraid Jennifer might get hurt. He was upset I allowed her to come."

"Still feeling guilty because he didn't go with her on the Daedalus?" Dusty added. "He really does act like a big brother to her."

"He's gonna hate what we have planned," Tommy said taking a drink of water.

Jennifer was enjoying the view of the forest as they exited the gate. "Wow. The view is really nice up here," Jennifer said leaning forward from her chair allowing Rodney a view of her low-cut t-shirt under her jacket. The jumper began to drift downward slightly. A dark green pine forest spread out from the gate in several directions rising up mountains to the far left and right. Directly ahead was a large lake and what looked like some large meadows.

"Richards, where do you want me to set down?" Rodney called to the Sergeant regaining his composure and straightening out the jumper.

He came up to the front and gave Rodney some coordinates. "Looks like about ten minutes out from the gate."

"We can set down up in the meadow near the lake. You guys can go about your work and Jennifer and I will stay nearby in the Jumper," Rodney announced.

"I'm not staying in the jumper. I already told you I'm going out with the Marines," the physician announced with a bit of attitude in her voice because her argument with Lorne was fresh in her mind.

"I just meant you don't have to rough it… It's comfortable… If you want to…" Rodney stammered. He only thought she would stay because she was not a Marine not because she could not handle herself.

If she had not fought with Lorne about coming, she would not have been upset with Rodney. "You're just like Lorne aren't you. I'll let you know I ate the guts of some forest-dwelling leech thing with Teyla last year and slept under tree branches. A tent and MRE's are like a five star hotel. I'm not as sensitive as you. I don't need a prescription mattress to sleep on."

As Jennifer's volume increased, Rodney's natural tendency to argue took over. "I've been on a _Team_ for five years. I've slept out under the stars in the rain, on rocks, in trees, on the ground and in plenty of other odd places. I'm not too _sensitive_ to sleep in a tent."

"You would never _willingly_ put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. I on the other hand am not at all concerned about roughing it," Jennifer finished crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him.

"You don't think I can rough it? Is that a challenge?" McKay never backed down from a challenge. "You're on."

The Marines in the back of the jumper were awestruck at the fight going on up front. _Dammit, Major, why didn't you mind your own business_, Dwayne thought shaking his head and walking to the front. _Can't have them fighting._

"Doctors, calm down. Neither of you needs to go with us. Doctor McKay, I know you need to work on the jumper and Doctor Keller you can come with us or stay in the jumper."

"Well, I'm going. I got all I need in my pack." Stomping into the back of the jumper, she yanked her pack out of the bin and sat with the Marines.

Doctor McKay landed the jumper, got up, walked past Sergeant Richards and the other Marines, grabbing his bag and opening the door. He walked out and turned, "Are you coming or not?"

Then Jennifer got up and stomped out of the jumper and waited to follow the Marines down a trail. It appeared McKay _was_ going to hike with them. _We'll see how he survives roughing it_, Jennifer thought.

"Well, at least we have them together. It should make it easier," Tommy added hopefully getting his own gear together.

"The Major really caused a mess for us," Robert said shaking his head.

"Why? Now we got both of them going with us," Dusty added getting her gear together.

"I'll see what I can do to smooth the ruffled feathers," Dwayne said. "Let's move out. Warry, you're on point."

"Yes, Master Gunny," Sergeant Warrington grabbed his big gun and jogged over to the two angry civilians.

* * *

Jennifer and Rodney did not speak during the afternoon walk. The astrophysicist did not complain once even though he did not have his sunscreen or bug repellent and something was constantly buzzing around his head. _What are you doing out here? You needed to work on the jumper. Why the hell were you fighting with Jennifer?_ A million questions and reprimands went through his genius brain while walking. _Because you don't think you're worthy of her. You think she needs a tough guy and you're trying to prove you're as tough as Ronon or Lorne._

Jennifer felt like a fool. _That was the stupidest thing you've done. Now Rodney won't get his work done because you were pissed at Lorne. Idiot!_

They reached a clearing where they were going to set up their base camp late in the afternoon. The Marines would each set out from here to find a location to bed down in the forest attempting to hide from Sergeant Roberts.

When the tent was pitched, Jennifer turned to her friend, Sergeant Mehra. "Dusty, that's a small tent."

"Yeah, it was just for _you_," the Marine said as she pulled her pack on and turned toward the forest.

"Where is Rodney going to sleep?"

"You guys need to sort that out. We weren't expecting him out here _that_ was your doing," Dusty tried hard not to smile at the shocked look on Jennifer's face. The doctor shot an annoyed look at her friend and turned.

"Sergeant Richards, are you heading out with the others?" Jennifer questioned the older man.

"Yes, I need to try to find them. Since Doctor McKay is here, I don't need to stay with you. I trust he can handle anything that might come along. We are not that far away, so I'm sure we would hear you scream," he said smiling at Jennifer and nodding over her shoulder at Atlantis's resident super genius standing behind Jennifer.

She reluctantly turned to meet McKay's stare. _This is stupid. You are alone in the woods with the man you love. You were excited before you felt your pride was damaged._ Taking a deep breath she began, "Rod…"

"Jen…"

The both stopped at the same time and laughed. "I'm sorry." Spoken by both of them simultaneously again resulting in more laughter.

"Jennifer, I was not questioning your ability to survive out here. I was merely offering the comfort of the jumper if you wanted it." Rodney stared into the beautiful brown eyes that _finally_ had no anger in them.

"I'm sorry. I was so angry with Lorne and just took what you said too personal. I know you have a little more faith in my abilities than some," Jennifer felt her face heating up.

"Well, I am your best friend, so I should know you better," Rodney looked at her intently while speaking. He was not sure what he was looking for but the big grin on her face and her hand squeezing his arm was a good start.

"That's right."

"Let's get some dinner and get some rest," Rodney said shaking out of his trance and heading to the large backpack with the food.

They had a great time eating MRE's and discussing everything and anything. Being away from Atlantis and all the emergencies they usually had to deal with allowed them to lower their guard. Their laughter rang around the clearing as they gossiped about their friends, remembered funny movies they saw and told stories about their youth. A big yawn from Rodney made Jennifer realize it was late.

"We should get to bed." Realizing what she just said her face turned crimson.

"Sure," Rodney tried to keep his voice calm. There is just one tent and it looked pretty small to him. _Should I offer to sleep outside? _The nervous man decided to play it cool like Sheppard would. He picked up two sleeping bags and moved toward the tent.

Jennifer was close to hyperventilating. _Rodney expected them to both sleep in the little tent. We will not be able to sleep without touching._ Taking a deep breath, Jennifer looked around to see if any of the Marines were nearby and they were not. _Stop being a prude! You each have your own sleeping bag._

"Should one of us keep watch?" Jennifer asked quietly from outside the tent flap as Rodney set about putting the two sleeping bags inside and checking for bugs.

"They are not far away, so they are guarding us." The surprisingly calm man said to Jennifer. Laying out the sleeping bags proved how small the tent really was. Rodney turned on a small lantern and set it near the top of the sleeping bags. _You can do this. There will be plenty of layers of cloth between the two of you. _

"Which side?"

"What?" Jennifer was looking through the tent flap and noticed how Rodney seemed to take up most of the space.

"Do you want the right or the left? Not really much difference, but…" The brilliant man was starting to lose his composure as she moved further into the little tent. The soft glow from the little lantern gave her face an angelic appearance. She had let her hair down from her ponytail during the evening causing it to look like a halo. _Good, think of her as an angel and you won't dream about touching her. Right, screw that. If you get the chance, take it._ The warring inside his head was making it difficult to think or control his body.

"Oh. Doesn't matter. I usually sleep on my right side, so I'll take the right." Which would allow her to look at McKay sleeping to her left.

It appeared Rodney realized that too and stared intently into her big brown eyes. _This is such a bad idea. But she's so beautiful._

Like a moth drawn to a flame, Jennifer kneeled in front of the man she loved staring into his beautiful blue eyes. _What is he doing? I hope he kisses me._ It was the last thought that went through her head as his lowered his mouth to hers. As soon as their lips met, the two geniuses stopped thinking and started feeling.

Jennifer felt the softness of Rodney's lips sliding over her own, the tugging of her t-shirt from her pants, the feel of calloused hands stroking her back and his tongue sliding between her lips.

Rodney felt the same things as Jennifer except that the surgeon's hands were a lot softer than his. Once they slid under his shirt to touch his bare flesh he pushed her backwards onto the sleeping bags in an effort to get even closer.  
_  
_Sergeant Richards happened to be walking by the camp at that moment and heard them tumbling around in the tent. _I guess they kissed and made up, _he thought with a huge grin spreading over his face. He decided to give the clearing a wide berth for the rest of the night._ Unless I hear screaming. Well a certain kind of screaming.  
_

* * *

The next morning, the Marines all returned to find the two doctors seated very close to each other around a small campfire along with their Master Gunnery Sergeant. They were laughing about something so hard that Jennifer was doubled over. Doctor McKay had his head thrown back as well.

"Did we miss a party?" Robert's deep voice announced as he dropped down next to Richards.

"Are those eggs?" Tommy said sitting next to Jennifer.

"Sort of," Richards said handing out small plates so they could serve themselves.

"What's so funny?" Dusty added dropping her pack and sitting between Richards and McKay.

"We were discussing Jennifer's _boyfriend_ and how he tortured so many people on the base."

"Oh, so our brilliant CMO finally figured it out?" Dusty smiled at the young physician who was glowing.

"Obviously," she gave a sly look to the man seated next to her from under her bangs causing him to grin even more.

"Well, I couldn't beat them up like Ronon, so I had to come up with some more creative ways to let them know to leave you alone," Rodney reached an arm around Jennifer pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.

"Toilets flushing backwards, lights and power going on and off all night. That's cruel and unusual punishment for just asking me out," Jennifer laughed wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Never underestimate the power of a man in love," Dwayne said with a smile causing everyone to laugh along with them.

"Semper Fidelis," Rodney said smiling at Jennifer.

"What?"

"Always Faithful."

"I know what it means but…"

"I've been 'always faithful' since we met," the physicist pulled his beloved doctor close and kissed her in front of their companions.

* * *

**Later in Atlantis  
**

* * *

"So Master Gunny, I guess the operation was a success?" the military leader of Atlantis said.

"One hundred percent, sir."

"Any casualties?"

"I'm sure there will be a lot of broken-hearted men around here for a while."

Sheppard noticed Doctors Keller and McKay leaving the jumper bay with their arms around each other. "But hopefully no more malfunctions to any room controls on the barracks level?"

"I don't think so, sir. Oh, the Marines all passed their exercise as well, sir."

"I was originally asking about that," John laughed taking a drink from his coffee mug as the two career soldiers turned back toward the stairwell leading to the control room. "Thank God someone took initiative to get them together."

"Oo-rah, sir."

**

* * *

**

**A/N This one came totally out of left field, but gotta follow the inspiration and see where it takes you. **

**Anyone who wants to Tag the 'tent scene', feel free. I don't want to see anything less than an M-rating on it, however!**


	9. SG1 to the Rescue

**MGM owns all characters.**

**Spoilers: Atlantis: Anything before Lost Tribe **

**SG1 episodes: 48 Hours/Redemption P2/A Road Not Taken**

**Thanks to dwparsnip and scr1tno for beta and support as always.**

**A/N- I did not watch a lot of SG1, so I hope I got Daniel/Sam right.**

* * *

"I'm glad you're feeling better Doctor Jackson. I was hoping we would have a chance to talk. Archaeology is one of my secret passions," Jennifer blushed slightly.

"Please call me Daniel," he smiled, appreciating the attention of the beautiful, young doctor.

"And you can call me Jennifer."

"It's not like the movies you know. They're just a bunch of library nerds, really," Rodney had his arms crossed over his chest with a look of mild disgust on his face.

"You should talk, _computer_ nerd." Jennifer giggled at Daniel's barb making Rodney angrier.

"Be nice, Doctor… I mean Daniel." Jennifer put a hand on Rodney's arm and smiled at him. "You've saved the day numerous times because you _are_ a computer nerd; you should be proud."

Upon seeing Jennifer's smile and having her touch him, the snarky man melted. "Really? Uh… Yeah… Of course. Archaeologists never save the day."

The archaeogist was stunned. Watching the looks being exchanged by this beautiful woman and this awkward man made him think he was back in high school watching the top geek trying to pick up the prom queen. "I've saved the day a few times, you know."

"I know. I've read all the SG1 logs before I came here. There are so many things I want to ask you about." Jennifer turned back to Daniel and was still flushed.

Seeing anger rise in the face of the arrogant man, Daniel decided to flirt with the object of McKay's interest. "Since I am at your mercy while a patient in this infirmary, you can do whatever you wish with me."

A groan issued from the genius that he quickly turned into a cough.

"Rodney, are you okay?" The way Jennifer quickly turned from Daniel to grab Rodney's arms to ensure he was okay made Daniel think the interest might be mutual.

"Yes. I'm fine," Rodney was red faced because Jennifer was so close and holding his arms.

"Are you sure? Let me get you a drink," Jennifer left immediately.

"She _is_ gorgeous," Daniel said, emphasized each word equally while watching her leave paying close attention to her backside.

"She is the Chief Medical Officer of Atlantis. You should not be _ogling_ her," Rodney growled through clenched teeth. He should be in Janus's lab, but when he came to see Jennifer for a late night snack she asked him to accompany her to meet Doctor Jackson. She said it was like there was a celebrity in her infirmary. _No way am I leaving her alone with him._

Jennifer came back with a glass of water and Colonel Samantha Carter.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" Daniel smiled at his old teammate.

"I was on the Sun Tzu near Pegasus when I heard about your accident so I got to a gate quickly," Sam walked to the bed and hugged her old friend. "Rodney, nice to see you. Didn't expect to see you hovering over Daniel, though?"

Jennifer handed Rodney a glass of water. "He's introducing me to Daniel. _Formally_. I felt kind of weird just coming over to ask for an autograph," Jennifer joked, laughing along with Sam and Daniel. Rodney choked on his water.

"You really are having a bad time this evening, Rodney. Maybe you should get some rest. You've had a long day," Jennifer had her doctor voice on.

"No, fine. Just… (Cough) tickle in my throat," Rodney smiled somewhat at her concern.

"Don't ever think of Daniel as a celebrity," Sam said. "He doesn't need a bigger ego than Rodney."

"Is this pick on Rodney night?" Jennifer asked with a bit of an edge to her voice.

Daniel noticed this right away. "He's a big boy, he can take it."

"Funny. Why don't we leave the old teammates alone," Rodney really wanted to get Jennifer away from Daniel before he left.

"You don't need to leave," Daniel said smiling at his doctor.

"I should get my reports done and get to bed before midnight."

"I can't imagine a beauty like you would turn into a pumpkin at midnight," Daniel flashed his most charming smile at the young doctor. Seeing McKay physically jerk at his comment and clench a fist was priceless. _This is too much fun._

"I never knew you were such a sweet talker," Jennifer could not believe she was flirting with _the_ Daniel Jackson. _He is cute and smart, but just not… Rodney._

Sam Carter was shocked that Daniel was being so forward with the Chief Medical Officer and Jennifer was giggling and blushing like a schoolgirl with a crush. One glance at Rodney made the Colonel realize exactly what was going on. _Why didn't I see that before? _Suddenly a flood of memories from her year on Atlantis came back to her.

The time Sam confronted Jennifer about why she had not yet applied to be the permanent CMO at a senior staff meeting. The Air Force officer had read a note in Jennifer's file by Doctor Weir discussing Jennifer's lack of confidence in herself. Sam decided to confront Doctor Keller about the CMO about it at a staff meeting.

"_I'd like to start with some staffing issues," Sam turned to Jennifer who was seated directly to her right and asked, "What happened to your application for the Chief Medical Officer's position? The IOA did not receive it."_

"_What?" The Rodney's voice echoed through the room._

"_What? My application?" Jennifer spoke with a shocked voice. _

"_The IOA sent me a message saying they did not get your application and cannot give you the position without their forms filled out. Did it get lost?" Sam had doubted it got lost._

"_We have had some data transfer issues," McKay chimed in as he started banging on his laptop. "Jennifer, when did you send it?"_

"_I didn't."_

"_What?" Rodney sounded angry. "Why the hell not? You **are** the most qualified person for the job."_

Rodney had immediately voiced his faith in her abilities and set about convincing her she was right for the job. Once Jennifer agreed, the expedition leader knew her head of science and research _fixed_ the data files to get the application submitted on time.

He also shielded Jennifer from any fall-out over the Elizabeth Weir/Nanite fiasco. Jennifer wrote in her report that it was her idea and that she sought out McKay for his assistance. Rodney's report ignored that piece of information.

Then there was the time Jennifer was captured with Teyla on New Athos. He hovered over her for at least a month after that. The young doctor had told her boss how scared she had been and that she did not think she could have held it together without Rodney.

_How could I forget the incident in the mine where they kept glancing at each other and flirting? No wonder McKay never bugged me when I was here. _Colonel Carter pulled herself out of her memories to hear Jennifer and Rodney bidding goodnight to Daniel and her.

"Can we meet up for breakfast?" the doctor asked her old boss.

"Absolutely. I want to hear all about the latest gossip," the soldier giggled to her friend.

"Night Sam," Rodney put his hand on Jennifer's shoulder to guide her out of the room.

"Night, Rodney."

"That was way too much fun," Daniel said shifting on the bed. "They are pretty pathetic, though. What could she possibly see in him?"

"I'm amazed I didn't see it when I was here. I was just thinking about all the signs. You're right, they have it pretty bad," she said pulling a chair up next to Daniel.

"So, what are we going to do about it?" The archaeologist asked raising his eyebrows and looking at his co-conspirator from many 'crimes' in the past.

* * *

They had decided on jealousy as a means to get them together. Sam did not believe Rodney would remain quiet for too long if he suspected Daniel of moving in on Jennifer. It also allowed them to torture Rodney, which they both enjoyed. Because Daniel was in a particularly playful mood, he had a slightly different take in mind but did not share his idea with Sam.

The next morning, Doctor Keller checked in on Daniel first thing.

"How is the most beautiful doctor in the Pegasus galaxy doing this morning?" the handsome archaeologist said with his most charming smile.

"She's got the morning off, so you're stuck with me," Jennifer replied. _He really does have a nice smile, but not as sweet as Rodney's._

"Did you and Sam have a nice breakfast?"

"Actually, she didn't get up in time. I saw her coming in with Rodney when I was leaving," the physician said while checking his chart. "Looks like you can get into a wheelchair today if you'd like to."

"That's great. So she ditched you for McKay. Not surprised about that," Daniel said studying her face closely.

"What? The rumors flew when she got here about Rodney's crush on her, but nothing happened. I spent tons of time with them and there is nothing but friendship between them," Jennifer said trying to sound casual. Her heart was racing._ Daniel is a confidant of Sam's does he know something?_

"That's because she was his boss. Now that she is back on Earth and he's out here, there are no conflicts. You know he _has_ mellowed over the years. Sam recently said so. I know she thinks he's cute," the archaeologist had to hold in his laughter as he watched the young doctor's mouth clench. _Sure enough, she's concerned._

"Really? You think she could be… interested in Rodney?" _Stay calm. It doesn't mean anything. It's just his opinion._

"I don't think she'd want anything long term. But a nice one or two-night stand could be in the works."

"Well… I'm sure… I mean Rodney wouldn't…" Jennifer could not speak. _Would Rodney sleep with Sam? Of course, you idiot, he's wanted her for years._

"So, can you take me for a ride around the city when you get a break?" Daniel asked pretending not to notice her cold expression.

"What? Oh, I should be free…"

"Jennifer, there you are. You aren't answering your earwig. Is it broken?" Rodney McKay came into the infirmary with Colonel Carter not far behind. He came to her reaching up and removing the device from her ear before she realized what was happening. Feeling Rodney's hand brushing her hair and touching her ear caused a tremor to shake her body.

"Wha… Uh… I… I don't know. I got a call earlier," the flustered woman stammered.

"I'll take it down to the lab and check it."

"Well that's _great_ news. When Jennifer takes me for a walk, no one can disturb us," Daniel said sitting up further on the bed grinning like an idiot.

Sam tried not to smile. Her old colleague was really turning on the charm. _I just hope Jennifer really wants Rodney otherwise he'll lose her to Daniel._

"Walk? You're better already?" Rodney turned to glare at Daniel.

"I'm a quick healer. Been involved in a lot of scrapes in my time," Daniel continued to have eyes only for Jennifer who was subdued after he planted the seed about Sam and Rodney. "Hey Sam, what are your plans today?"

"I was going to join Rodney in Janus's lab. There is so much to sort through."

As soon as Sam mentioned she was going to be with Rodney today, Jennifer sprang into action. _I did not just tell Ronon to take a hike to lose Rodney to his old crush._ "I'll bring Daniel down, so he can look around, too."

"That's a great idea," Daniel said.

"Well, I'm not sure having a wheelchair rolling around in there is a good idea," Rodney countered. _Jennifer likes Daniel? No, this cannot be happening. First Ronon, now Daniel! _Fearful that he did not stand a chance against Daniel caused him to move closer to her as if his physical presence would block out her charming patient.

"No problem, Jennifer can take me for a walk to some balcony with a view of the city and I can hang out there."

"You shouldn't be left alone," Jennifer said.

"Excuse me. Doctor Keller, we need you in Room 3," a nurse interrupted them.

"I'll be right there, Marie." Jennifer turned toward Rodney to offer him the sweetest smile and said, "I'll bring Daniel down around lunch time and bring some food, too."

"Uh… Ah… Sure… Great." Having her beautiful smile focused on him drove all conscious thought out of his head.

Jennifer reached out to squeeze his arm as she walked past. "Daniel. Rodney. Colonel. I'll see you all later."

Daniel had a huge grin on his face. His plan was working much faster than he thought it would. He could not wait for lunch.

Rodney was smiling as well thinking about lunch, but not dwelling on the food for once.

Sam was confused. _Colonel. What's that all about? _

Rodney and Sam made their way to Janus's lab. "I haven't seen Daniel so… taken with someone in a long time. Jennifer is definitely his type; pretty, smart, funny. I'd say she is going to be fending off his advances until I can get him out of here in a few days."

"What?" Stopping and turning toward his old boss, Rodney glared at her. "What do you mean fending off his advances? If he starts messing with Jennifer …"

"Whoa! Whoa! Down Rodney," Sam physically put her hands on his chest. "If she tells him to get lost, he'll do it. But I'd say she seems pretty taken with him as well." Turning she continued down the corridor leaving a stunned astrophysicist behind. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah." Rodney's mind was racing. _It seemed like she was interested in Ronon if the smile they shared over that kid's bed meant anything, but now she positively gushed over Jackson. Oh, I'm getting too old for this._ Walking quickly to catch up with the Air Force astrophysicist Rodney tried to focus on Janus's lab.

* * *

Jennifer pushed Daniel into the mess hall to get take out lunches for them. They had a great morning discussing his missions and study of the Ancients between her rounds. Daniel was truly impressed with the physician's intellect. _She really was a genius like McKay but w__hat could she possibly see in him? _"So have you and Rodney been friends for long?"

"Yes. We've been friends since I got here. Carson died shortly after and Rodney was a great support to me. I would have gone home if not for him." Jennifer paused. _Did I say that? To Daniel Jackson?_ She felt relaxed around him like he was an old friend.

"Really. McKay was a real… I'm sorry but there is no way around it. He was a real jerk when we first met him. Hammond got so pissed, he sent him to Russia for a couple of years."

"I know. I've read all the files. All I can say is that he has been great to me. We argue, but he never insults me or speaks down to me like he does with others. We have collaborated on a lot of projects and we may not agree, but I can honestly say that he hears me out." Jennifer could feel the blush on her cheeks intensifying.

Daniel smiled._ She really does like him. A lot. And it seems like he likes her too._ "That's nice. He was awful to Sam at first. Called her a dumb blond and chased her mercilessly. She loved every minute of it, though. I heard she actually kissed him once."

Closing her eyes for a moment, the medical genius was at a loss. Ever since Rodney stood next to her in that biohazard suit trying to offer comfort after she had been infected in Michael's lab, she viewed him differently. When they met, he had a girlfriend, Katie Brown, so she buried herself in her work and tried not to think about him. When they broke up, Jennifer was too busy with the Hoffan virus and then helping Carson recover to think about her personal life. She never mixed work or school with pleasure before but the feelings she felt for McKay were too strong to ignore. After almost losing him to the Second Childhood, she vowed to let him know how she felt. The opportunity still had not come, but the Samantha Carter 'thing' was too much for her to take. _I'm not going down without a fight._

With a new determination, Jennifer turned to Doctor Jackson. "Let's get this food down to our scientists, shall we?"

"Definitely." Daniel could not wait for the real fun to begin.

Sam noticed Jennifer pushing Daniel into the lab. The latter had four boxes of food on his lap with a big smile on his face. Taking the opportunity to plant another seed, the Colonel moved close to McKay bending over him with an arm on the back of his chair and whispering, "Looks like Daniel and Jennifer are finally here. They look pretty at ease with each other."

"Hi Jennifer. Let me help you," Rodney jumped up immediately almost running to get the woman he loved away from the grinning man she was pushing in the wheel chair. He grabbed the trays from Daniel and ushered Jennifer into the room with the other hand on her shoulder.

When Jennifer saw Sam leaning over Rodney she saw red. Never had she been jealous of another person before. Of course the only things she cared about before were grades and research, which she always excelled at, so the jealousy of a woman in love was new to her.

"Hi Rodney. I had the chef make a sandwich out of the veal parm they had left over from last night. I know it's your favorite." Jennifer walked as close to Rodney as she could without touching him. She did not even glance at her old boss.

_Excellent!_ Daniel was beside himself with happiness. _Jennifer was chasing after Rodney and he was stumbling over himself in an effort to keep her away from me._

"Jennifer, could you help me? I think there is something wrong with the chair."

Sam glanced at Daniel and he winked at her. _It looked like McKay and Keller were pretty close. We should probably back off now._

Jennifer kneeled down to look at the wheels on the chair. "It looks fine. Perhaps there was just something stuck."

"Or he's not strong enough to push it," Rodney shot back as he moved a small table and some chairs so the four of them could eat lunch together.

"I'll help with that, Rodney," Sam moved over to help Rodney. She knocked over a chair and leaned down to pick it up. Daniel noticed her pants were pretty tight.

Daniel laughed as Jennifer pushed him further into the lab. "Looks like she wore her 'come and get me jeans today'," Daniel whispered conspiratorially to Jennifer.

Glancing at Colonel Carter's choice of clothing only angered the usually gentle physician. Deciding to fight fire with fire, Jennifer removed her jacket to reveal a sleeveless light-blue shirt.

When Rodney saw Jennifer remove her jacket, he raised his eyebrows. _How am I supposed to eat when she's taking her clothes off?_

"Jennifer, you look really nice in that shirt. Blue looks good on you," Daniel said as he roved his eyes over her.

"Thank you, Daniel." _If only McKay noticed._

Rodney's fists clenched and he glared at Daniel. Sam noticed the interchanges and hid a chuckle. _Daniel has a death wish. McKay looks pissed._

They sat down around a small table with Rodney across from Jennifer. Daniel was leading most of the conversation and leaning toward the beautiful CMO. Jennifer took every opportunity she could to laugh at Rodney's comments and smile brightly at him. Annoyed that she could not sit next to Rodney, she tried to pretend Sam was not there in her tight t-shirt and even tighter jeans.

"Oh, Jennifer, I almost forgot, I fixed your earwig," Rodney said between mouthfuls of food.

"That's too bad. I enjoyed having the lovely doctor all to myself when we were walking around the city," Daniel added with a sly grin aimed at Jennifer.

"It's over here. I'll get it for you," Rodney got up knocking a water bottle over and spilling it in Sam's lap. "Sorry, Sam. I didn't see it. Here, let me help."

He wadded up some napkins and started wiping water off her thighs. This was too much for Jennifer to take so she stood up as well. "Rodney, go find some more napkins or paper towels. I'll help the Colonel get cleaned up."

"What? Oh sure."

"I'm fine, Jennifer. I don't need any help," Sam said. _I don't remember putting my water there._ Standing, she brushed the water off.

"Don't bother, Jennifer. I'm sure they can figure out how to dry her pants. They are very creative," Daniel added.

"I'll help Rodney look more towels." Jennifer needed to get away to clear her head. _No way am I letting him rub her down in front of me._

Rodney could not find anything to wipe up the water with as he rummaged around knocking over a couple devices on the counter as he dug into crates.

"Don't you always tell me to be careful of strange alien devices? You just knocked these over," Jennifer growled at him. _Look how hard he's trying to find something so he can go back to touching __**her**__._

"What? Oh, I didn't. What the… Where did they go?" Rodney was looking past Jennifer. She turned to see an empty lab.

"Why did Daniel leave?"

"Daniel!" Rodney could not hold his anger any longer. He had enough of Jennifer making a fool of herself because of Doctor Jackson. "Who cares?" Reaching up, he pressed his earwig. "Sam?"

"Of course you call Sam first. Afraid she went to change her pants without you?" The jealous woman could not hold her anger back either.

"Change her pants? What are you talking about?"

"You know damned well what I'm talking about. No wonder she was late for breakfast. Did you guys get any sleep last night?" Jennifer felt a burning in her eyes. _No, this is not happening._

"Any sleep?" Rodney was growing more agitated and did not really want to fight with the woman he loved. "Listen, let's sit down and finish our lunch. I'm sure they will get back soon." He walked a few steps past Jennifer and hit into a blue field.

"Ow. What the hell?" He reached out and hit into an invisible field that glowed blue where he contacted it.

"Is that some type of force field?" Jennifer reached out and hit the invisible barrier as well. "Ouch. Not strong enough to knock you out but unpleasant enough to make you not want to touch it."

"You think! Radek!" The physicist hit his earwig and felt around them. It appeared they were surrounded on all sides by a force field.

"I wonder how high it goes?" The physician looked up. "Do you have anything in your pockets?"

"Control? Sheppard? What?" Rodney was getting agitated since no one was responding.

"Do you have anything I can try to throw up to see how high this goes? We are surrounded on all sides."

"I know that. Where the hell did Sam go?"

"Back to Sam again. Why don't you stop thinking about your girlfriend and concentrate on getting us out of here," Jennifer growled.

"My what?" _What is it about Sam?_

"Well, she won't be around long enough to be a girlfriend, I guess. Just a fling!" The young woman's eyes were blazing; she was shaking her hands and stomping around the man she loved in their little prison.

"All right! Enough of this nonsense! There is nothing going on with Sam and me. What about you and Prince Charming wandering around the city? Don't you have any other patients or are you mooning over Jackson all day?"

"Mooning? Well he is a lot nicer than you."

**

* * *

Outside the force field.**

* * *

"Hey, Jennifer, don't worry about the napkins. Sam will go change." Daniel called to Jennifer who was suddenly speaking to Rodney but he heard no words. Rodney responded but no words came out of his mouth either. Daniel thought he lost his hearing but he could hear the humming of computers. "Sam, something weird is going on."

Sam stopped wiping water off of her lap and looked at Jennifer and Rodney. "Rodney? Jennifer?"

They were doing the most peculiar thing; walking around in a circle with their hands out like Mimes. "Rodney what's going on?" Sam called out walking toward them.

Daniel rolled his chair over. He stopped in front of Jennifer who turned to obviously yell at McKay without seeing him. The agitated man was tapping repeatedly on his earwig. Daniel reached out and hit into an invisible barrier with his hand. "There seems to be some type of field around them. I can't penetrate it."

"Rodney?" Sam pressed her earwig. "They don't seem to be able to see or hear us and communications aren't working." She waved her hands in front of Rodney who had now turned to apparently yell at Jennifer.

Daniel said rolling toward the console. He noticed a green light on a device. "Uh-oh. Looks like another Janus device is active."

"Radek, Sheppard, Woolsey, you better come to Janus's lab. We have a problem." The ex-leader of Atlantis turned to look at the device. Quickly punching some keys on the console and noting a huge power spike, which must be drawn by the device, Sam groaned. "Definitely got something here."

"Better hurry up. Looks like they're fighting," Daniel said shaking his head.

Radek came running into the lab. Janus's lab and _problem_ were not a good combination. He saw his boss and his friend apparently screaming at each other, but he could not hear them.

"It appears to be a containment device," the Czech said scrolling through the Ancient text Sam found.

"Ah. That makes sense," the linguist said looking over Radek's arm to see the screen and help with translation. "It was used to study test subjects to allow the researcher to watch their subjects undetected. We need to get poor Jennifer out of there because she looks like she's going to cry," Daniel shook his head. Doctor Keller turned toward the back wall of the lab with tears visible sliding down her cheek. _Leave it to McKay to screw this up._

**

* * *

Back inside the field**

* * *

"Oh he is. Well, isn't that sweet!" Rodney's face was red and his eyes were blazing.

"Yes he is. Of course _I_ have to be _stupid_ enough to fall in love with the most arrogant, ignorant, clueless… _moron_ I can find," Jennifer could not hold tears from falling as she turned away from Rodney wrapping her arms around herself.

The smartest man in two galaxies stared in stunned silence. _What did she say?_

"Jennifer?"

"Yes, I said I fell in love with you but I'm sure it'll g_et over it eventually_," she said without much feeling. She knew Rodney was her perfect match in every way, but he did not need any more women throwing themselves at him.

"You fell in love with _me_?" The softness of his voice startled Jennifer, so she turned to find him very close behind her.

Looking into the face that haunted her dreams, Jennifer lost all her anger. _If he is happy with Sam, I need to be happy for him._ "I already said 'yes'. I realize my timing sucks. Sam is back and you two can actually be together without worrying about regulations or anything like that." She tried hard to smile and contain any more tears from falling. "You two make a good couple."

"You fell in love with _me_?" Rodney repeated like a child.

"Rodney, snap out of it. For the last time, yes I am in love with you. Now think of what could have happened to us. I bet it has something to do with the stuff you knocked over. Maybe we are…" Jennifer did not get to finish her sentence because two arms wrapped around her pulling her close and Rodney's mouth crashed into hers. A stunned gasp came from her as his tongue invaded her mouth erasing any thoughts from her head.

**

* * *

Back outside the field**

* * *

"Um, you guys might want to hurry up and figure out how to shut that down or we might need to leave the room for a while," John Sheppard's eyebrows disappeared under his hair as he watched his best friend grab the woman he loved and kiss her. It looked like a good kiss because Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck quickly and appeared to be kissing him back just as hard.

Everyone else turned to see the display the two geniuses were putting on.

"I think we just need to kill power to the lab," Sam said turning with a smile. "Zelenka go in the corridor and kill it."

"That was fast. I guess if we were both around last year, they could have gotten together then." Daniel was positively glowing. Being a romantic, he felt good to get the awkward McKay paired up with the beautiful woman.

Sheppard and Woolsey turned their backs on the pair as Jennifer's hands started wandering under Rodney's jacket. His hands already ventured down to squeeze her behind a couple of times.

Radek ran from the room in an effort to save his friend from too much embarrassment. _Rodney can handle it but poor Jennifer. She'll be horrified she was kissing Rodney with such a big audience._ Pulling a panel off the wall, he quickly inserted his diagnostic equipment to find the right circuit and then pulled that crystal out. The lights went out leaving a couple of emergency lights on.

"Hey, you two seriously need to get a room." The voice of John Sheppard permeated the two lovebirds. _John Sheppard!_ Jennifer and Rodney pulled their mouths back from each other simultaneously realizing they were standing in a dimly lit lab with Sheppard, Woolsey, Zelenka, Daniel and Sam surrounding them.

"What just happened?" McKay said in a husky voice. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "What happened?"

Jennifer was bright red and trying to disappear inside McKay's jacket, which she was clutching for dear life. It was obvious the woman was having a hard time controlling her breathing.

"One of the devices set up a containment field around you two," Sam explained trying to hold in her laughter. Rodney was trying to carry on a conversation red-faced and breathing hard with the woman he obviously loved still in his arms.

"You could see us?" Rodney asked trying to speak calmly.

"Definitely," Daniel was grinning from ear to ear as he caught McKay's eye.

The way he said it and the look on his face told the normally clueless man he had just been set up. "You're not interested in Jennifer at all, are you?"

At the sound of her name, Jennifer stepped back slightly from Rodney and looked at Doctor Jackson with a critical eye. "And Sam doesn't want a fling with Rodney does she?"

"What!" Samantha Carter yelled causing Woolsey and Radek to jump back. "Daniel told you I wanted to do _what_ with Rodney!"

Jennifer saw a look of complete terror cross Daniel's face. Rodney looked briefly at Sam, the woman who haunted his dreams for years, and then down to the flushed face of the woman currently in his arms._ Thank goodness Sam never wanted me if it meant missing out on Jennifer. _

"Glad to be of assistance, Rodney," Sam said breathing a long sigh of relief. _Finally, no more McKay._ If she had been truthful, she would admit to feeling a small twinge of regret for just a second. She did marry him in another time line after all. Turning to her old teammate she said, "I think I will have a little conversation with Vala when I get back."

"You wouldn't dare," Daniel's eyes widened.

"You know me," Sam said with a smile.

"Oh shit," Doctor Jackson cried.

* * *

**A/N I hoped you liked it. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	10. Jennifer's Big Brother

**MGM owns all characters except my OCs**

**Spoilers: Anything through The Outsiders in Season 5**

**A/N: You can thank scr1tno for this one. I really was not going to do a Lorne, because my view on Lorne is that he hates McKay and would never set them up. Thanks dwparsnip for his support as well.  
**

* * *

"Mark," Jennifer Keller's voice cut across the Gate room causing Major Evan Lorne to start. He never heard his friend sound so excited. Noticing Doctor Rodney McKay looking toward the location where the new personnel beamed down from the Daedalus and shaking his head in disgust; Evan looked that way as well.

Jennifer was excited beyond belief that Doctor Mark Stone was on Atlantis. He had been the Teaching Assistant in her Genetics class when she got to medical school. Along with Carson Beckett, he was her first real crush. She had long since gotten over both of them. Carson becoming a surrogate father and Mark Stone becoming a long lost memory. When she saw the IOA request to send a geneticist to Atlantis to study the Ancient Technology Activation gene at work in a setting full of ancient technology, Jennifer was intrigued. When she found out Doctor Stone was coming, her childish crush resurrected itself. Seeing the tall, handsome man with light brown hair and bright green eyes standing in her City sent a chill up her spine. _How stupid is this? You are in love with someone and you still get excited to see your old crush. Yes, but the man you are in love with doesn't notice you. You're pathetic._

"Jennifer!" Doctor Stone turned toward the voice and had his breath catch. The last time he saw Jennifer she was seventeen and still coming out of those awkward teenage-years. The beauty he saw coming toward him with a thousand-watt smile literally took his breath away. He had been well aware of her crush on him during his graduate school days, but he would never take advantage of a teenager. _A grown woman on the other hand…_ A hungry grin passed over his face. _This is going to be an awesome month._

Evan watched the interchange from the other side of the Gateroom where he was getting ready to go out for a few days with Major Anne Teldy's team. Being closer to Doctor Stone, he saw the surprised look turn into one of hunger directed at the woman he considered his little sister. Hair rose on the back of his neck and he felt his muscles clench. He could deal with Ronon and McKay having crushes on Jennifer because he knew both men. Ronon would never pressure her and McKay was too much of a loser to even try, so they did not concern him. This man who Jennifer obviously knew because of the way she said his name and the smile she gave him looked like trouble for his sweet friend. "Major, you know what, I'm going to back out of this. Your team can get up to speed with your newest member. You don't need an assessment right now."

"Thank you, sir. Is there something wrong?" Anne noticed him watching the exchange in the Gateroom. Jennifer was giving a hug to the man she called Mark, who Anne had to admit was really hot. He seemed slow to release her leaving his hands on her hips for longer than was necessary. "Oh, I see. Well, just make sure she wants your help. I wouldn't want anyone getting between me and that hunk, but that's just me, sir." The Marine smiled at the second-in-command of Atlantis's military.

"Well hurry back and you can have him," Evan prided himself on being an excellent judge of character and this guy seemed like a creep to him.

* * *

The next morning, Evan was happy to find Jennifer alone in the gym walking on the treadmill. _Great, now I can get to the bottom of this._ The previous evening he researched Doctor Mark Stone. He was a brilliant geneticist recruited by the IOA to do more advanced research on the ATA gene. Apparently, the Antarctic base did not provide enough research information, so the IOA wanted to send someone to Atlantis. The man was thirty-five, had never been married and worked under contract for the SGC less than a year. He had an extensive list of research and published papers that Evan glanced at over coffee. Doctor Stone seemed on paper a perfect match for Jennifer. Major Lorne worked in the real world however and did not like the look on the man's face when he saw Jennifer.

"Fancy meeting you here, Doc," Evan called to Jennifer who was, as usual, engrossed in her tablet reading and typing while walking.

"Huh, Oh, good morning, Evan. I thought you went out with Anne's team?" the physician was glad to see her "adoptive big brother." They usually ran into each other in the gym when Evan was on base, which did not happen much lately.

"She needs to work in the new recruit," Evan took the treadmill next to Jennifer, increased the incline and ramped up the speed. Being a career soldier, he could run and carry on a conversation without any problems.

"Alicia's replacement," Jennifer said with sadness in her voice. She had really liked Captain Vega.

"Yeah," Evan took a long breath. The worse part about his job was losing so many good people. "What's new with you? I haven't seen much of you since the Daedalus mess you got yourself into."

"I got myself into! The Wraith were going for my plan until this galaxy's Asgard messed things up," Jennifer said angrily.

"Yup. Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. You definitely need someone to look out for you," Evan loved teasing Jennifer. It reminded him of his own beloved sister back on Earth.

"What! I gave Ronon time to rescue the crew by turning myself in to Todd." Jennifer was getting worked up now. She had heard this particular speech from the man who occupied all of her dreams and from her 'big brother' before. _You should never have done that. Todd could have killed you. What were you thinking?_

"And that was stupid, but we already had this argument. Boy you are touchy this morning. Long night with your _friend_," Evan put just enough emphasis on the word friend to get more of a reaction out of Jennifer. He needed to find out her feelings about this new doctor.

"Long night! What are you talking about?" Jennifer felt heat rising in her face.

"By the way you're turning red, looks like I'm on to something," Evan saw her stiffen. He could have just asked her, but getting the truth out of Jennifer about guys was tricky. By the way she acted around McKay all these years, it was obvious to him that she had a crush on the man but tried to hide it. _Why she likes him is beyond me?_

"I will have you know, Big Brother, that we are _just_ friends. We happen to enjoy each other's company because we have a lot in common. We are both geniuses and have trouble fitting in with the 'cool' crowd around here."

"Fitting in? I'd say he seems to fit in nicely. You might not have noticed at dinner last night because you were too busy giggling at everything he said, but every woman including Teyla was checking him out." _Oh shit, I think she likes this creep. Not good._

"I had dinner with Mark last night," Jennifer said in a confused tone.

"I know that," Evan stared at Jennifer and she stared at him. They were obviously having two different conversations. "We are talking about Doctor Stone aren't we?"

"We are? Oh, well… Mark and I go way back to my first year of medical school." _Oh my God! I can't believe what I almost said to Evan._

"Okay? So who did you think I was talking about?" Evan was curious now._ Jennifer got extremely riled up when I talked about her spending the night with someone. Oh no. Please don't tell me. _The Air Force Major could not stifle a groan.

"Evan, are you okay?" Jennifer saw her friend close his eyes shake his head and groan.

"Yeah, fine," Evan replied.

"Why are you suddenly interested in my evening?"

"Wondering about you and Doctor Stone or Mark as you screamed across the Gateroom."

"What? I didn't scream! I admit I was excited to see him. I met him when I was fifteen and like all the women in my class had a crush on him. He was the teaching assistant for Genetics."

"So now that you are not jail-bait…" Lorne paused. _Please don't say you like him._

"Jail-bait? Where are you from?" Jennifer could not help but laugh. "You sound like a jealous boyfriend."

"Very protective older brother, thank you very much," Lorne countered.

"So you think I am making a fool of myself around Mark, I mean Doctor Stone," Jennifer realized she probably did seem like a teenager last night.

"Yes. I also wanted to find out if you really liked him or not."

"Why?"

"Let's just say the look he gave you yesterday angered your protective big brother."

"Look? What look?"

"You're not a guy so you won't understand. I was warned that I needed to check in with you to see how you felt before I gave him the _talk_."

"The talk? How I feel? Why are you so concerned about my love life," Jennifer was surprised and annoyed. "I appreciate the concern, but I am a grown woman and can take care of myself. Beside, the last thing I need is a relationship." _Well, not really true._

"I'm sure he doesn't want a relationship either," the soldier could not keep the anger out of his voice. _No way am I letting Jennifer get involved with someone who is just passing through. She's too good for that._

"You men all think about only one thing. I thought you were a little more mature than some of the others. Now, stop being so concerned about my love life or lack of one and concentrate on your own," Jennifer got off the treadmill at that point and headed toward the door.

"I can't stop. You are too important to me and Atlantis," Lorne called out as she left. He knew she heard him and would not be angry the next time they talked because he always got in the last word.

As he was leaving the work out room, he encountered Master Gunnery Sergeant Dwayne Richards. Master Gunny was a career soldier like Lorne with several tours in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan under his belt and was the most senior of the Sergeants on base. They were going to spar for a while.

"Good morning, sir," Dwayne said standing at attention. The formal nature of a military base was absent on Atlantis due to all the civilians but some of the career military found this hard to swallow. Sergeant Richards was one of them. He did not salute, which was his way of loosening the regulations.

"At ease Master Gunny."

"Looks like you upset Doctor Keller, sir." Dwayne really liked the young doctor and cared about her a great deal. She had saved his life shortly after her arrival and he was forever grateful.

"Yeah, I'm giving her a hard time about a new doctor on the base. I don't like the way the guy looked at her," the Major added as they started walking toward the sparring rooms. Approaching them down the corridor was none other than the doctor Evan was referring to.

"Hey, you two grunts, I'm looking for the work out room," he called down the corridor.

Sergeant Richards turned to see if anyone was behind them and only saw Doctor Rodney McKay walking up the corridor glancing into the work out room. _You just missed her, Doc_, he thought with a smile forming. The Head of Science was hopelessly infatuated with the beautiful young CMO.

"While Master Gunny is a Marine, we both take offense to that term, Doctor Stone." Evan said with as much quiet hostility as he could muster. It obviously worked because the man slowed to a stop in front of them.

"Sorry, I don't remember meeting you?"

"Major Lorne. Master Gunnery Sergeant Richards."

"And I'm McKay. Doctor Rodney McKay," came a voice from behind Evan. He jumped slightly not realizing McKay was there. Detecting a tone of anger in McKay's voice Evan realized he must already know who this man is and his relationship to Jennifer. _Good. Having McKay as an enemy is almost the worse thing that could happen to the guy._

"Doctor McKay," Doctor Stone almost pushed the soldiers aside to shake Rodney's hand.

_Oh great, someone to stroke McKay's ego._ Evan was going to be sick.

Rodney reluctantly shook the man's hand. He was taller than the physicist and had a real firm handshake. Dressed in a tight t-shirt and work out shorts, he was obviously on his way to the gym. _Trying to catch Jennifer, I bet._

"Jennifer was telling me all about you last night. We think your group can help us with some of the tests we want to run. I am really looking forward to working with someone of your stature," Doctor Stone said smiling broadly.

"I'll be sure to discuss it with Jennifer when I see her at breakfast," he said with some pride in his voice. He had gotten into this routine of walking from his lab to the mess hall for breakfast past the fitness area. Jennifer was always in the gym first thing and then went to breakfast, so he usually ran into her. Doctor Stone did not need to know it was not a planned breakfast.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were friends, too," Doctor Stone said with what sounded like uncertainty in his voice.

Major Lorne and Sergeant Richards were closely watching the exchange. It appeared that McKay was not taken in by the ass kissing. Evan had to admit he was impressed.

"We're _close_ friends," Rodney was staring into the man's green eyes. _Keep eye contact with your enemy is what Ronon always says._ The way this man looked at Jennifer during dinner last night definitely made him an enemy. _She is not a piece of meat._ "I believe you owe the Major and the Sergeant an apology. They don't like the term 'grunt'."

Evan's eyebrows rose as he glanced at McKay. He too did not take his eyes off the medical doctor until now. _Is McKay defending us?_

"Sorry. Major. Sergeant. I apologize," he said and put his hand out to Lorne.

The Major shook it a little harder than was necessary. "I was hoping to run into you to say that I didn't appreciate the way you were checking out our Chief Medical Officer yesterday."

"Really?" Doctor Stone extracted his hand from Lorne. "Well, _Major_, I'm not sure what you _think_ your relationship is with Jennifer, but I asked her last night if she was involved with anyone and she said '_no'_. Sorry to break it to you."

_The guy definitely has balls._ "Our relationship is none of your business, but Jennifer is _very_ important to me and a lot of other people around here. If anyone should _hurt_ her in _any_ way, they would have a lot of enemies," Evan spoke with an edge to his voice. His blue eyes stared into the green ones set in that arrogant face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw McKay stiffen and a look of pure hatred cross his face. Sergeant Richards posture seemed like he was uninterested, but Lorne had served with the older man long enough to recognize he was ready for a fight.

"Yeah, Jennifer is the nicest person here and we are very protective of her," McKay growled.

_Hold it together, McKay._ Lorne hoped the Sergeant was watching McKay because he did not want to keep an eye on the angry scientist and this idiot as well.

"This is touching but I doubt Jennifer is a fair maiden hiding behind a bunch of knights-in-battle armor. When we met, she was fifteen and while I gave it a thought, there were enough other women in her class to occupy me for a semester. Now that I won't get arrested, I plan on making up for lost time."

Rodney surged forward only to have Lorne grab his left arm and Richards grab his right. "What! You jerk! Jennifer would never… You can't just come in here and… expect to sleep with her!"

"Doctor McKay, no need to get yourself worked up over this piece of shit," the calm, cold voice of the Master Gunny Sergeant sounded to Rodney's right. "There is no way Jennifer is going to fall for someone like this."

"I don't have time for you three. I'm sorry if your little 'princess' doesn't want you, but I _know_ she wants me. You never forget the first _real_ man you want," he pushed past Lorne's left knowing the three men would not attack him.

"You son-of-a-bitch! Get back here!" Rodney was struggling with the two soldiers who did not loosen their grips. "Hey, how could you let him say that and walk away? I thought you were Jennifer's friends?"

"No need to give him ammunition to run to Woolsey or Sheppard with, yet, Doctor McKay," Richards said trying to calm Rodney.

An idea popped into Evan's brain after seeing McKay come so quickly to Jennifer's defense. "Don't worry, McKay, we won't let him touch her. I know they will be working together for the next month that he's here, but I have to believe he won't try anything in the lab. Between your crew and mine we should be able to know when he uses the toilet."

"I know you and Jennifer usually just run into each other in the mess hall for meals. Do you think you could plan on eating with her the next couple of days? So she's not alone with him?" _Come on, McKay!_

"What? Sure. I'll do everything I can think of to make sure she's not alone with him. We've got cameras everywhere. Once I tell Zelenka what's going on, he'll feed the video right into security central. He really likes Jennifer." Rodney's brain was racing. _That bastard basically said he came here to sleep with Jennifer. I'll kill him if he lays one finger on her._

"Jennifer just left the gym before you got here Doctor McKay, so she should be heading toward the mess hall," Richards said nodding up the corridor.

"Oh, right. Yeah, I'll catch up with her. You'll let me know what's going on, right?"

"Absolutely, McKay, you are a vital part of this operation," Lorne said. He slapped the scientist on the shoulder as he walked by on his way to find Jennifer.

"That was brilliant, sir," Sergeant Richards said smiling at the Major.

"The fact that I help my temper and didn't mop the corridor with that bastard. He was right about one thing, we will defend Jennifer like a legion of knights." Evan had not been so angry in ages. It took every ounce of military training he had not to slug the guy.

"No, sir. It's the fact that you recruited Doctor McKay to help. It will make things go much easier. When Doctor McKay shows some interest in Doctor Keller, she will be all over him," Richards was smiling.

"I don't want to be sick this early, Master Gunny," Evan sighed loudly. "You really like him, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. He is the bravest man I ever met," Richards said.

"Coming from you, there could be no greater compliment," Lorne was shocked to hear the respect in Richards' voice.

"He is not a soldier, sir. According to his file, he was a scientist tied to a computer all day. He never left Earth until Pegasus and with no skills with a gun or fighting, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard picked him for his team after we were here a few days," the Sergeant went on with awe in his voice now, "He saved us so many times that first year, I lost count. You know all he's done since you got here. You have to respect that, sir."

"I do respect him. I've gone to battle with him. I just don't like him," Evan realized he was going to lose this battle no matter what he said._ Better bite the bullet._

"He grows on you, sir. I have an extra year of Doctor McKay under my belt. Maybe it takes five years, not four, sir."

The Major laughed out loud at that one. "Fine. He does care about her, though."

"Yes. He loves her and she feels the same."

"Love, that's a serious word."

"It's true. I was on Talus. He let her perform brain surgery in a cave with a cordless drill without putting up a fight once she said she could do it. And, well, you know what a mess she was that month. Not eating, sleeping, seeing other patients or working on her research. I didn't see her smile once the whole month unless she was looking at him. Even when he couldn't recognize her, she still had a look of… love on her face when she was with him."

"Fine! I'll buy McKay a round in the bar the next time we go. Now, let's get some of this anger out of my system. How about the boxing ring today?"

"Of course, sir."

* * *

Rodney almost ran to the mess hall to find Jennifer. His desire to protect her was so strong it frightened him. He really felt he could beat that jerk senseless the next time he saw him. _If he wants a fight for Jennifer, he's got one. This is one challenge I won't back down from._

"Jennifer, here you are," he tried to get his breathing back to normal. She looked even prettier today than normal. Her hair was in pigtails making her look a lot younger than usual. "What's with the pigtails?"

"What? Oh, I thought I'd do something different. I always have that same ponytail since my hair got longer." She smiled at him. He looked slightly out of breath. "You seem a little out of breathe. Is everything okay?"

"Sure, fine. I wanted to catch an early breakfast so I could get some work done."

"Yeah, I'll be tied up with Mark… I mean Doctor Stone for the next month. I won't have any patients and Woolsey even gave me a break from all other research. The IOA figures it can spare me a month to knock out some in-depth research on the ATA interaction with ancient tech."

"Yeah, I ran into Doctor Stone this morning. He said you have some ideas about a collaboration with my group." Rodney glanced around the crowded mess hall. "Why don't you grab a table and I'll get your cup of tea. The apple one, right?"

"Yes," Jennifer was surprised he would know what tea she drank in the morning, "How did you know that?"

"You drink apple in the morning and chamomile in the evenings. I am a genius. I remember the important things," Rodney turned to head to the drink station leaving a stunned Jennifer Keller behind.

_I remember the important things. He thinks my drinks are important._ Jennifer moved through the mess hall with her feet six inches off the ground. For the man she loved to notice what she drank and when as well as notice her hairstyle were bigger compliments than if he said she was beautiful.

Finding a table for two shoved in the corner, Jennifer sat down waiting for Rodney with their drinks. Glancing around the mess hall, she noticed that Mark was missing._ I told him we needed an early start and he's not eating by seven. Oh well, he knows where the lab is._

Rodney glanced around the mess hall on his way to Jennifer and saw his team on the other side with Zelenka. Giving himself a mental note to grab the Czech when he left, he then turned his attention to the beautiful physician waiting for him. _Excellent, a small table so he can't join us._

"Here you go," Rodney set his tray down and gave Jennifer her tea.

"Thank you. That was really nice of you to get my drink."

"My pleasure. So what is the collaboration you have in mind?" Rodney asked scanning the room one last time.

"We need someone in your group to program the scanner so we can study the interaction between someone with the ATA gene and ancient tech. There is a neurological component to the gene and we're trying to isolate it. At least I am, since my medical discipline was neurology. I was hoping to find some type of wavelength that might be coming from the mind of the person activating the device." Jennifer loved to discuss her work with Rodney. He was brilliant and always had great suggestions. Occasionally, he would tell her she had a genius idea or some other compliment that would leave her glowing for a week.

"That's a great experiment to run. I'll work with you."

"Really? Don't you have enough in Janus's lab to keep you busy for the rest of your life?" Jennifer was thrilled that Rodney wanted to help personally, but she did not want to get him in trouble with Woolsey.

"I imagine you will want someone with the ATA gene as a test subject. I know I'm not… I can't think of the right word, I'm not Sheppard but…"

"Potent?" Jennifer suddenly blushed furiously.

"Potent? Not as potent as Sheppard? Now that hurts," he joked with a big smile on his face. Jennifer laughed and continued to blush. _I will never get tired of the sound of her laughter._

"Why are you in such a hurry to help?"

"I am always trying to advance science."

"Since when do you think of medical research as science?" Jennifer was surprised by this comment.

"Since you got here," he said it so matter-of-factly that Jennifer could not speak for several minutes. She watched him shovel food into his mouth and drink coffee.

He seemed to notice she was sitting and staring, so he continued speaking, "You have two PhDs. You are a _real_ scientist. Carson was just a doctor."

"One of the greatest geneticists ever." Jennifer jumped to her mentor's defense.

"Yeah, but still just an MD. Not like you," Rodney had a sweet smile on his face. It reminded her of the time they flirted in the infirmary. _When he was… Oh no._

"Rodney! I need you to come to the infirmary immediately!" Jennifer jumped out of her seat knocking it over. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the door with many folks staring after them. _The shortness of breath. Being so out of character and downright sweet. No!_

"What? Jennifer, you barely touched your breakfast," Rodney protested but not too strongly because Jennifer had his hand clutched in hers. The feeling of their palms pressed together sent a wave of heat through him. _What got her so upset?_

Jennifer held her breath. _He shouldn't get re-infected. No, this can't be happening._ Fighting tears and clutching his hand even tighter, she pulled him into the transporter and hit the infirmary. She could not make eye contact or talk. _Gotta get him under the_ _scanner._

"Jennifer, are you going to tell me why you are dragging me to the infirmary?" Rodney was at a loss. She was gripping his hand tight. _Doesn't she know I'd follow her off a cliff if she held my hand?_

"I'll tell you in a minute," her voice almost cracked. _Not again! Please don't do this again. _The tears were threatening and she almost ran with him into the lab.

"Jennifer?" Doctor Stone had been flirting with Amanda Cole until he saw the object of his current desire come charging in holding hands with Doctor Rodney McKay. _What the hell is this?_

Evan Lorne and Dwayne Richards were also in the infirmary. The Major would be sporting a black eye for a couple of days. He was seriously off as he boxed with the Sergeant, getting knocked back and hitting his head on the post requiring a trip to the infirmary. Since the military men came in, Doctor Stone flirted with all the women to spite them.

Jennifer did not hear Doctor Stone, but Rodney did. He flashed a glare at the man as he followed her into a room with a medical scanner.

"Please get on the table." Jennifer quickly logged into the laptop and started the scanner.

"You know we could have finished breakfast first. You are going to be very hungry and we'll have to leave and get more food before lunch," Rodney felt empty when she let go of his hand.

"Shhh, I need to calibrate this. Please," her voice did crack this time. _Hurry up. Please._

"Jennifer? What's going on? I thought we were going to work on this together," Mark said entering the lab.

"What? I'm doing something much more important than _your_ research. I'm with a patient. I'll get you when I'm ready," Jennifer yelled at him because the scanner was doing a diagnostic she could not stop. The look she gave him told him to back off.

"Patient? Jennifer, what's wrong?" Rodney was now concerned. _She suspects something is wrong with me. _"Jennifer? Talk to me."

"Just give me a second. Of course this stupid machine is running a diagnostic when I need it!"

The panic in her voice got McKay up off the bed in a heart beat and was next to her at the monitor before she could react. He reached over her to punch a code to stop the diagnostic. "Jennifer, what is it?"

"Oh Rodney. I… You…" A beep from the computer saved her. "Please get back there. It will only take a minute."

"Okay, but you owe me an explanation."

Jennifer was running the scanner over Rodney's brain repeatedly. She did not see that evil black entity. _Need to make sure it is working properly. Do it again. Slow it down._

"Jennifer, I've been here for like five minutes. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I don't see anything wrong? Thank God," Jennifer sighed. The threat of tears finally became a reality.

Rodney got up and walked over to the woman he loved and noticed she was deliberately turning away from him. "Jennifer. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Uh-huh. Just need a minute," she whispered out trying to control her tears. All the pain and terror of the Second Childhood incident came flooding back.

"Jennifer," his voice was soft and he put a hand on her shoulder turning her toward him and seeing the tears she was trying to furiously wipe from her face, his heart melted. "Oh Jennifer, what is it? Is there something wrong with me … you don't know how…"

"No, Rodney, there is nothing wrong with you." After she turned, he put his other hand on her shoulder. She automatically put her hands up to his chest.

After hearing Jennifer yelling and Doctor Stone coming out of the lab Jennifer and Rodney entered, Lorne headed that way. He stopped in the doorway at the site in front of him. Jennifer was trying not to cry and McKay was comforting her. He knew he should leave them alone, but could not. _They seem so unlikely a couple yet look so… right together. I guess Richards is right._ Evan vowed to ensure Jennifer and Rodney got a chance.

"I thought. When you were so nice to me, getting the tea and stuff. I thought…" Jennifer could not finish her sentence because Rodney suddenly hit his earwig. He flashed her an annoyed smile and turned.

"McKay. Are you sure? Yes, it is a problem. I have a lot of work to do. Fine!" Rodney was angrier with Sheppard than he could remember. _Why the hell do I have to go Michael-hunting with them? They know Woolsey doesn't want us to._ "I need to go. That was Sheppard. I'm going to have to send Zelenka after all. I'll get back as soon as I can. You swear this was a false alarm? Nothing's wrong?"

"Yes, Rodney. I swear. Just my… insecurities. You are perfectly fine," she said smiling. Her heart was racing from the fear she just had and from being this close to him. "Stay safe."

"You know me," Rodney paused a moment before leaving as if he was going to say something and thinking twice about it, he left.

"Now you know how military spouses feel," Lorne said causing Jennifer to jump.

"What happened to you?" Jennifer said approaching him and looking critically at his black eye.

"Sergeant Richards got in a good swing," Evan laughed, "Can I get you for lunch to make up for being a protective big brother?"

"Sure. If I'm free. I'll be in here with Zelenka and Doctor Stone most of the day."

"I'll check in. McKay will be fine, by the way."

"What? Oh, sure. He has more lives than a cat." Jennifer was giving Evan a strange look.

"Yes. He does."

* * *

Rodney and his team were gone for seven days. During that time, Lorne mobilized everyone he could muster to watch over Jennifer. As soon as he told Zelenka what happened, the little Czech scientist was always in the infirmary helping Jennifer. Sergeant Richards, Chuck, and several others grabbed Jennifer for meals as well. Evan knew Doctor Stone was pissed that he never had time alone with Jennifer.

Mark Stone was furious with the men of Atlantis. Of course he had several woman since he got here last week, but the golden-haired genius he worked with all day began to consume his nighttime and daytime fantasies._ I am not going to pass up this notch in my bedpost. _

That night, he had a particularly willing nurse to take to bed. With a little liquor, he got her talking before hand about her boss and learned that Jennifer might not be involved with anyone but she was infatuated with Rodney McKay. The genius apparently did not realize her feelings or did not care. In the two years they had been here together, the man never made a move except when he was dying. Mark smiled while he bedded the nurse thinking that tomorrow night, the beautiful chief medical officer of Atlantis would be with him. That thought caused him to finish a lot sooner than the nurse would have liked.

Jennifer was tired and missed Rodney. He had not been gone more than a week for as long as she could remember. She still hoped that deep down he cared for her as more than a friend. _Why else would he have said he loved me on the video? He still knew Pi that day, so there was still some Rodney in there._ The despair she often felt when thinking about the man she loved threatened to overwhelm her. The chime of her door snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Jennifer, finally I got you alone," Mark sounded desperate. "May I come in?"

"Of course, is something wrong?" Jennifer backed away to let him in. It was rather early so she was still in a t-shirt and shorts from working out.

"Yes. I don't know how to say it other than to come out with it. Here it goes. Jennifer, I came here for you. Things were just not right for us in medical school, but now we are adults and I hoped we could give it a try." Mark grabbed her upper arms and stared into her eyes.

"Mark, I… I don't know what to say," Jennifer was speechless. This was the last thing she expected and a small part of her, the outsider at medical school, was thrilled. _Mark Stone, the studly teaching assistant wants to go out with me. _

"Jennifer, I know you are in love with someone else, but please hear me out," Mark let go of her and stepped closer, taking her hand in his.

Jennifer looked at him with a slightly scared expression. "In love with someone. I don't know what you're talking about."

"McKay. The uber-genius. I know all about what you've been doing to get his attention. I got to be honest with you Jennifer. If you did any of those things to me, I would notice and react. You have been here for two years. Has he ever returned your affection?"_ Please say no. I hope I'm not wrong about that loser._

"McKay?" Jennifer was stunned. _Who was he talking to around here?_

"Jennifer. I'd never leave you if you needed me like he did last week. He'd rather be out with his team than be with the woman who loves him. You have to see that he is not interested. I don't want you to waste your life on someone when I could be here for you. Give us a chance." Mark brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss on it.

Jennifer was torn. _Rodney did not do anything most people would notice, but he complimented and stood by her. But so did Lorne, Carson, Radek, Sheppard, and most of the people on the base. _Tears formed in her eyes._ You told yourself you don't care if he returns your love. You have your video to watch every night until you go to sleep. It's enough. Is it?_

Mark saw the battle waged in her eyes. _Now to move in for the kill._ "Just join me tonight for a drink. That's it. If we don't seem to have anything more in common than work, I'll leave you to your spinsterhood where you can moon over that jerk, McKay, for the rest of your life and I'll continue to drown my sorrows in love-less relationships." He kissed her hand again and caressed her cheek then turned to leave stopping at the door. "What will it be Doctor Keller, a date with a real man or dreams of a fantasy that can never be?"

"I… I… A drink. I'll meet you for a drink," Jennifer tried to smile but her heart was broken. After Mark left, she fell onto her bed and cried until banging on her door got her out of it.

"Jennifer, what happened? Why did you let him in here?" Evan Lorne was beside himself as he hurried to Jennifer's quarters when he got the call from security central that Stone went into Jennifer's room. He had great concern for what the man who seemed to be bedding most of the base might do to his friend. Not to mention Jennifer's obvious sadness at McKay's absence for a week. _Damn Sheppard for his sense of vengeance._

"What? Are you spying on me?" Jennifer was upset after realizing she was an idiot for mooning after McKay. _He broke up with Katie almost a year ago and didn't make a move. Mark's right, he doesn't care._

"Jennifer, the guy is slime. He's slept with half a dozen women since he got here…"

"Listen, I know you think of me as a little sister and I thought it would be cool to have a big brother, but I am a big girl. I can take care of myself. How dare you think you can tell me who can come to my room and who I could sleep with! You are fired as a big brother and a friend." With that Jennifer swiped the door to close it in Evan's face.

Turning in anger, he stormed toward the transport. Rounding the corner, he saw a smiling Mark Stone.

"Advantage me, Major." the arrogant doctor turned to leave.

Lorne walked up behind him, swinging him around. Evan had a fist ready to ram into the guy's face, but held his punch.

A look of fear passed over the man's face. _I need to get her in bed tonight before they kill me._ "Major, I _will_ bring you up on charges."

"You are so not worth it," Lorne muttered letting him go. _ I gotta get Jennifer to listen to reason. If only McKay were back. _As if God decided he had suffered enough, he got a call from Control saying Sheppard was returning with injuries.

Evan took off running back to Jennifer's quarters, pounding on the door. "Jennifer, Sheppard's team is back with injuries. I just got the call."

The door opened and carrying her shoes and uniform, she took off up the corridor with Lorne in her socks.

Rodney was not injured, but Ronon was. Jennifer participated in the surgery, which took several hours to patch him up. Evan decided to take this time to get McKay to finally get his act together.

"McKay, you got a minute," Evan said pulling the physicist aside to talk to him about Jennifer. "Something happened while you were gone."

"Did that bastard try something with Jennifer? I knew I shouldn't have gone. I told Sheppard I had more important things to do here," Rodney was furious with his CO for pulling the team out for days hunting false leads and pissing off Woolsey in the process. _Now Jennifer might have been… Don't think it._

"I'm not sure what happened, but Jennifer won't speak to me, so its all you. You need to find out what he did and then we can kill the bastard."

"Sure. Uh… Major. How do I do that?" Rodney was at a loss. He loved Jennifer but did not really know how to talk about something like her feelings for another guy.

"What? You two are crazy about each other. Just talk to her," Lorne was really concerned for his friend and could not beat around the bush.

"She's what? No, Jennifer could not be interested in me. We're just friends," the astrophysicist stammered falling into a chair in the room. _Lorne is one of her closest friends. Could he know something?_

"Dammit, McKay. She almost died along with you during that Second Childhood thing. She spent every waking hour and she was awake most of the day, trying to save you. She didn't eat and withdrew from everyone. You have no idea how angry your team and even your sister were with her because she didn't want to let you go to that planet. When you came back, Jennifer was herself again." Evan pleaded with the genius to understand. "She loves you. You have no idea how happy she is when you're around. Why I cannot begin to fathom."

Rodney was stunned. "Why would you tell me this? We've never been friends."

"No, we haven't. Seeing this creep sleep with a bunch of women and basically have him tell us he was going to do the same with Jennifer made me realize how lonely she must be. She's in love with an arrogant jackass who barely notices her. She is the perfect victim for some handsome smooth-talking guy. I do love her like she's my little sister and don't want her hurt. I'd rather she is happy with some guy I can beat the shit out of. Now go get the girl, McKay!"

Rodney got up and left the room to find his team gone. Running to the nurse's station, he asked Marie, "What happened? Where is everyone?"

"The surgery was a success, so Doctor Keller sent the team away and left herself. She has a date this evening and I know she's pretty excited about it." Marie made a point of mentioning the date hoping to snap the clueless man out of his stupor_. Maybe he'll finally make a move before Casanova does._

Rodney took off out of the infirmary toward Jennifer's quarter.

"Doctor McKay, I hope you are on your way to the briefing room," the voice of Richard Woolsey sounded behind Rodney.

"Actually, no. I was on my way to a shower after being out for days," he snarked at his boss not really caring. He had zero time for this.

"Well, sorry to interrupt you, but I need you to come with me," Woolsey said in a threatening voice.

The angry man was about ready to tell his boss what to do, but saw Lorne motioning for him to go. Rodney stared at the soldier raising his eyebrows and trying to communicate without words. Finally giving up, he followed Woolsey.

The soldier did not McKay in trouble with Woolsey, again, so Evan headed for Jennifer's quarters to try one last time. It appeared she had left before he got there. He tried calling her, but she did not answer. Contacting Zelenka, he found out she was in the bar they had built for people to relax in. _Must be with the jerk._ Realizing he might have to tell her about McKay's feelings before the guy can get out of his meeting with Woolsey, Lorne took a deep breath and prepared for battle.

* * *

Jennifer Keller was depressed. She seldom would say that, but having drinks with Mark Stone when he was trying to charm her just made her sad. _I should be eating with Rodney now that he's back, but he's with his team. Wow, I wonder if Mark was this stuck-up and conceited as a grad student_. All Mark did was talk about himself or how she was more beautiful than a hundred sunsets. _Where does he think up this crap? I guess he's used to normal women who find this intelligent and witty._ For a genius, he sounded silly and immature. Of course she was polite and smiled and laughed at the right moment, but her mind was not there. I wonder where Rodney is and if he was going to come to the bar before movie night.

Lorne was on his way to the bar when he saw Doctor Amanda Cole and Marie coming out of the infirmary. Evan stopped waiting for them to catch up with him hoping to recruit them.

"Doctor Cole, Marie, are you on your way to the bar?"

"No. The last thing I want to see is that bastard seducing Jennifer. I can't believe she's went with him," Marie said.

"Well, she's in love with a complete moron. She's lonely and wants to feel like a woman. That man can definitely do that," Amanda replied turning slightly pink and coughing.

Evan quickly turned from the women starting to jog up the hall, "Thanks. Catch you later."

When Lorne entered the bar, the sight before his eyes caused him to stop abruptly and stare open-mouthed. There was a hole in the crowd at the center of the dance floor and in it was Rodney McKay and Jennifer Keller kissing passionately. Doctor Mark Stone was lying on the floor obviously knocked out.

"Welcome to the party, Major," Radek Zelenka said with a big grin on his face.

"What happened?" Lorne asked.

"McKay decked the bastard when he grabbed Jennifer. Apparently, she had enough of him and saw Rodney entering the bar. Doctor Stone pulled Jennifer onto his lap after she got up. She tried to elbow him and their chair fell over. I never saw Rodney so mad in the five years I've known him. Seeing Jennifer lying on top of another man," Radek paused to laugh and take a drink of his beer. "Anyways, Rodney helps Jennifer up and reaches down to help Stone get up. Then he nails him with an impressive right hook. Knocked him out cold. Beautiful. Then Jennifer and Rodney just started kissing. I don't think they said a word to each other."

Evan was stunned. _I'll be damned_ _McKay came through. Now I need to save them from themselves._

"Excuse me, but you two need to take this someplace else before any indecency charges are issued," Lorne tapped McKay on the shoulder several times and had to shout, "Hey! Break it up!"

"Wha…" both gasped breathlessly pulling apart to stare into each other's eyes.

"I said you need to take this to a private location," Evan was trying hard not to laugh. They both had the same stupid look on their faces. "Hey, McKay, now is when you walk hand-in-hand out of here with the woman you love."

At his use of the word love, Jennifer spoke to Rodney. "You love me?"

"Absolutely. Do you… you know… love me?" Rodney asked with fear in his voice.

"Absolutely! I love you Rodney McKay," Jennifer said rather loudly.

"And I love you Jennifer Keller," Rodney said just as loudly.

Applause and cheering erupted around them as they leaned in to kiss again. Lorne got his arm between them. "I said take it elsewhere."

Rodney seemed to finally realize Lorne was there. "Major, I would say this Operation is a success, wouldn't you?"

"Definitely. I owe you a beer the next time you are here," he said laughing.

"You sneak!" Jennifer laughed, giving Lorne a hug.

"Now get out of here and McKay, you mess this up, I will beat the shit out of you," Lorne said with a big grin on his face. Rodney's response involved one finger held aloft.

* * *

**A/N: I always think this is the last one, but I am out of people. I have a Jeannie idea floating around, but not sure if it fits with the rest of these.  
**

**Thanks always to the reviewers. You keep me writing.**


	11. The Transition Plan

**MGM**** owns all the characters**

**Spoilers: Set early Season Five; Major spoilers for The Seed  
**

**A/N: As usual, thanks to scr1tno and dwparsnip. You two really are keeping me going with this. Please let me know if I am becoming like a Hollywood Studio who cranks out dumb sequels.**

* * *

Since Richard Woolsey arrived on Atlantis several weeks ago, he had a lot to learn: the technology of the City, the planets they traded regularly with, the Wraith, the personnel of the City and all the nuances that make Atlantis tick. _ Do not expect more than a couple of sentences from Ronon each week. Never question the loyalty of the Athosians. Do not criticize Rodney McKay around Jennifer Keller and never, ever criticize Jennifer Keller around Rodney McKay. _The new expedition leader felt the wrath of Doctor McKay several times already during Doctor Keller's infection by the Hive Ship virus. Doctor McKay was outraged at being locked up and at Woolsey's idea of using drones against Jennifer's isolation lab.

A few days after that incident, the administrator was meeting with Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay about a new planet to explore. The colonel asked him how he was transitioning to his new post and if he ran into any problems.

"Thank you for asking, Colonel Sheppard," he said trying to ignore Doctor McKay's eye roll. "I do have a question for both of you since you have been here since Doctor Beckett's… well the first Doctor Beckett's death."

"Okay," John sat up in his seat giving Rodney a surprised look.

"It would appear Doctor Keller did not want the position of Chief Medical Officer and after taking it, she has done nothing to expand the position on Atlantis. Based on her education and intellect, I would have expected her to have a bigger role in the City by now."

"Bigger role! There is no one more important to Atlantis or this expedition than Jennifer. Her skill as a surgeon has saved all of us. She gets along with everyone. Any planet she goes to only wants her to return. She has done an amazing job!" Rodney was on his feet, hands waving, eyes flashing and face reddening with each statement.

"McKay," Sheppard jumped up as well, "Calm down. He's not criticizing her. Just asking our opinion."

"Well, I just gave it," the physicist pulled out of John's grip, shot a glare at Woolsey and left.

* * *

Richard met with Doctor Keller in his office the next day. "Doctor Keller, I want to tell you that I have heard nothing but the most positive things about your work on Atlantis. Colonel Carter gave you an Outstanding on your last performance evaluation and all I have seen seems to uphold that rating."

Jennifer turned dark red and stammered, "Thank you, Mister Woolsey."

"Now, I would like to discuss the possibility of expanding your role. Have you given any thoughts to other research or resources that you would like to see on Atlantis?"

"Expanded role? I must tell you that with being Chief of Medicine, running a department of forty, and my research project on Wraith feeding, I am not sure what else I could be doing," the CMO was stunned but also pleased the her new boss thought her capable of handling more responsibility. _What that would be escapes me?_

"You do not have to do anything more, but perhaps your department could use more staff or resources?"

"We always could use more people, but my team is strong and works well together so they get a lot done." The pride was evident in her voice.

"What about collaborations with other departments? Perhaps there could be more of those?" Woolsey believed the brilliant doctor had great potential but only needed to get pushed in the right direction. Part of his job on Atlantis for the IOA was to determine if anyone _on_ Atlantis was leadership material for other missions. Knowing that Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay would never leave, he was left to determine Doctor Keller's thoughts and plans. _If she does not want a larger role here, she might want one elsewhere._

"I find that most other departments are too busy for collaborating. Doctor Zelenka from Ancient Technology has continued to study the ATA gene interaction with the city and Ancient devices along with some of my staff. The zoology department is working with us on developing theories of Wraith evolution and the lone entomologist is solely studying the Iratus bug. Oh, and botany works with us on studying the medicinal properties in the plants they find."

"It sounds like there is a lot going on there. Do you think _these_ departments need more resources?"

"Well, the biological ones do, but that won't happen." Jennifer chuckled at the thought of Rodney passing up a hotshot physicist for an entomologist.

"Is something amusing Doctor Keller?"

"Just imagining Rodney, I mean, Doctor McKay interviewing a new entomologist or botanist."

"Yes, his distaste for your profession and the field of biological research is quite obvious. He wanted to decrease the size of those departments just last week. Honestly, I am not sure he should be in charge of those groups."

"You know that Rod… Doctor McKay can get… what's the right word…"

"Irrational?"

"Not exactly what I was looking for, but he is passionate about his research and his areas of expertise. It is not that he sees no value in the life and biological sciences; he really has no time to think about them. My collaborations with him have always gone well and he is always willing to listen to any ideas I have," Jennifer had an edge to her voice as she spoke about Doctor McKay.

"I see, well it is good to know that the Heads of my two research groups have a strong working relationship. Now, let's get back to the updates you have on your research."

* * *

The senior staff meeting was finished and Rodney and Jennifer were smiling and discussing the movie for Friday's movie night as they left.

"Doctor McKay and Doctor Keller, could you stay behind?" Mister Woolsey called to them before they could leave. The two geniuses glanced at each other and walked back to the table. "Please take a seat. I have a proposition for the two of you."

"Uh, sure," Rodney seated himself next to Jennifer even though the room was empty. Richard moved to sit across from them.

"I would like to make some departmental changes involving your two departments."

Rodney immediately tensed and sat forward with his arms on the table. "What kind of changes?"

Jennifer felt her stomach drop because she had an idea what this was about. _Oh no. He wouldn't…_

"I believe your time can better be served concentrating on the fields that play to your strengths, Doctor McKay. You obviously have no interest in Botany or Zoology, so I would like to move those groups under Doctor Keller's Medical Research Department and call the entire group Biological Research."

"What!" Rodney actually screamed.

"Doctor McKay you were here last week telling me we had too many botanists. The Pegasus galaxy is large and twelve botanists are hardly enough to study all these planets. As for the zoology department, it is horribly understaffed. Within Doctor Keller's department, these groups will be measured against medical and biological researchers. It will be a win for the staff, for you to have less groups to manage and for Doctor Keller to expand her role."

As soon as Rodney heard the phrase 'expand her role', the conversation from a few days ago came to mind. "Oh, I see where this is going. You're punishing me for getting upset the other day."

"Doctor McKay, I can assure you that this is not punishment. I honestly can say this is the best for you and these departments. Doctor Keller, do you agree? When we spoke you said the departments were understaffed?"

Jennifer turned bright red. "I did say that but…"

"Oh, so _you_ want to _steal_ my departments?" Rodney turned in his chair to look directly at the beautiful woman on his left.

"I'm not stealing them. I didn't ask for this," Jennifer had never lost her temper with Rodney before. Sure she teased him and ordered him around when he was in the infirmary, but the love she felt for him was always there. The look of pure anger he directed at her caused her to rise to the occasion. _How could he think I did this to hurt him in some way?_

"You and Woolsey made some deal to what…" Rodney was at a loss. _How could Jennifer have a part of dismantling his department?_

"I can assure you Doctor McKay that there was no closed door deal made. It was my understanding that the two of you worked very well together and had the highest degree of respect for the other. If that is incorrect, please let me know now. I have a dial out with the SGC and was going to leave you alone to work out the transition plan. If you are only going to fight with each other, I will have to stay and mediate," Woolsey looked from one to the other. They were both red-faced and breathing hard. The warm glances they shared were much colder.

"You do not need to stay because there is nothing to mediate," Rodney said giving Woolsey a challenging stare.

"Fine then you and Doctor Keller will submit a transition plan to me when I return. It should not take long for two geniuses to assemble."

"Whoa. I meant the departments are not moving."

"Doctor McKay, this is not your decision. It is mine and the departments are moving." The administrator got up to leave. "Can I leave or do I need to stay?"

"You can leave, Mister Woolsey. Doctor McKay and I will sort this out," Jennifer smiled at her new boss and then glared into the blue eyes that haunted her dreams.

After Woolsey left, Jennifer leaped up. "How dare you sit there looking like I betrayed you? You always tell me what a pain those departments are. The only time you cared about botany was when your precious _Katie_ was there!"

Rodney stood up as well. "Katie! What does she have to do with this!"

"I bet you never stepped foot in the greenhouse before you were dating and have not been back since!"

"I have allergies. You know that. I can't hang out in the greenhouses!"

"I did not steal your departments and for you to even think that means you never trusted me." Jennifer stopped. She felt the pressure of tears behind her eyes.

"Trust you! This has nothing to do with trust! This has to do with…"

"What? Your humungous ego! Your pride or your selfishness!" Jennifer could not believe she was throwing out all the negative words people used to describe Rodney.

"Since when do you want to run the science departments around here anyways? I had to convince you to be take the permanent CMO position."

"You had to convince me! You are not the boss of me, McKay! Maybe I want to stretch my wings and try something new."

"That's fine! Find some new surgical method or something like that. Just…" Rodney had never been so furious without knowing why he was furious before. He did not care about those departments in the slightest even when Katie was there. _This was about… What?_

"Oh yes! Concentrate on medicine because you can't do anything else. Don't think I don't remember how you insulted my intelligence when I got here. Telling me I could not possibly know anything about physics or Ancient technology!"

"I apologized for that. You are the most intelligent woman I've ever worked with."

"Woman! Now you're being a chauvinist!"

"Jennifer! Stop!" Rodney realized Jennifer was being totally irrational and really had no idea what they were fighting about now.

Everything Rodney said just set her off more. It was as if all the longing and pent-up sexual desire she had for him was coming out in this vocal tirade. "Why? Too difficult to hear the truth McKay. That you are arrogant and clueless at the same time. That your pride runs over you intelligence. That…" Jennifer was hyperventilating now.

"Jennifer. Please calm down. I think you're going to have a seizure or something."

"You can't have a seizure from being angry."

Rodney knew he needed to do something quick. _This is stupid. Woolsey wants to give Jennifer more responsibility. You should be proud of her not tearing her down because of your pissing match with your new boss. _Taking a deep breath, he reached out to grab her shoulders to stop her from pacing; hoping that she did not hit him. She was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. When the realization that he was holding the woman he dreamed of nightly so close, all anger left him leaving only desire.

Jennifer was shocked that Rodney grabbed her. She looked up into those incredible eyes and noticed he was staring intently at her. Her chest was still heaving and her face flushed. Closing her eyes to help focus, she gasped as she felt Rodney's lips on hers. Her eyes flew open to see his face pressed close to hers. The longing in her soul took over at that moment closing her eyes, moving her arms up his chest and around his neck.

As soon as Jennifer touched him, he deepened the kiss sliding his tongue into her mouth and pulling her tight against him. They both groaned, as they suddenly could not keep their hands still. Rodney's slid down to grip her butt and hers slid into his hair holding him close. After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled their lips apart still pressing tightly against each other.

"Jennifer, I'm sorry. I'm really proud of you and…"

Hearing those words, Jennifer kissed him again pressing against him so hard he was forced backwards. Bumping into the conference table, Rodney was forced to pull his mouth away.

"Jennifer…" His husky voice sent tremors through Jennifer.

"I'm sorry, too, Rodney," the physician leaned in to kiss his neck causing him to moan. Her hands unzipped his jacket and slid under to tug at his t-shirt.

"Ahh, Jen… We need to," he stopped talking when he felt her soft hands moving over his back under his t-shirt. _Screw it!_ He spun them around, kissed her again and lifted her up by her buttocks so she was sitting on Woolsey's conference table. Stepping in between her legs and pulling her tightly against her, Rodney decided to let out all the passion he felt for this amazing woman. His lips slid down her throat kissing her soft skin and his hands worked under her jacket and t-shirt to stroke her back causing her to cry out his name.

Jennifer slid her legs around Rodney's waist pulling him as close as their clothing would allow them. She felt him groan and tremble. One of his hands left her back to hold himself up on the table.

"A-hem! I have read studies saying that workplace romance actually strengthens the performance of the staff members. If the relationships become long-term committed ones both the employer and employees benefit. Now, given that you are both already geniuses, I cannot wait to see how this increases your productivity," Mister Woolsey said without any emotion in his voice. "I would appreciate if you did this in a more private setting. Since I doubt either of you will be very productive today, why don't you take the rest of the day off and meet me in the morning to present your transition plans for botany and zoology."

Rodney McKay and Jennifer Keller both muttered 'Yes, Mister Woolsey' and almost ran from the conference room. After this, Richard allowed himself to double over laughing.

* * *

**A/N: Of course there will be more. Thanks to all the reviewers.**


	12. Out of the Mouths of Babes

**MGM owns all characters except my OCs**

**Spoilers: Childhood's End**

**Thanks to scr1tno and dwparsnip as usual. My editors and muses. **** This is dedicated to all my fans who have kids or like kids. **

**A/N: *******This is very different from the other stories in the series, so if you don't like it, please don't hate me*****

* * *

"All right. Something terrible happened and we need to figure out why," Casta said walking back and forth like a leader inspecting his troops.

"Casta is right. We need to make sure it never happens again," Cleya, his younger sister said nodding in agreement.

"He was mean," Meeka added in her soft voice with tears in her eyes.

"He was so nice the last two times he was here. He told me about when he was a kid and all the cool stuff he did. He said the ground got covered with the really cold, white stuff they brought us to eat once…" Arek was searching for the word. His brain could not remember what it was called only that it was cold.

"Ice Cream," Meeka said, her high-pitched voice ringing through the hut.

"Yes, ice cream. And he brought those great things to eat," Arek paused again.

"MMs. I want those again!" Meeka squealed.

"But the last time, he didn't have anything," Casta said in a sad voice.

"He was mean," Meeka swiped at her eyes. "He yelled. I never heard him yell."

"Well he used to yell all the time, but then he stopped," Casta had a pensive look on his face.

"She was not here," Katrene said. Katrene did not talk a lot but always had something smart to say.

"Who?" Casta asked.

"The pretty doctor," Arek said with a silly look on his face.

"Oh, I like her. She gives me those things on sticks that taste so yummy after she pokes me. But it never hurts when she does it," Meeka added.

"Yes, she is very nice, but what does she have to do with Rodney?" Cleya was possessive of _her_ Rodney.

"When she is here, he is nice. When she is not, he is mean," Katrene said rolling her eyes.

"And he's mean when Keras is around," Casta added.

"What?" Katrene had not noticed this.

"The last time they were both here, Keras was walking with Jennifer. Rodney looked really mad," Casta explained.

"Hhhmmm." Katrene looked like she was thinking hard. "I guess he does not want to share her."

"But he smiles when I play with her," Meeka added.

"You are five. Keras is another full grown," Arek rolled his eyes.

"So!" Meeka jumped up stomping her little foot.

"Full growns have different rules than us kids. I agree with Katrene. He does not want to share her."

"So how are we going to make sure nice Rodney comes back?" Cleya asked looking around.

"We need to make sure she's here, too," said Arek.

"How do we do that?" Casta asked.

"Someone has to get hurt," Katrene said.

Everyone audibly gulped.

"Who?" Meeka had fear on her little face now.

"One of us and we need to mess up the ZedPM in the ruins that Rodney fixes," Katrene said.

"I'll do that," said Casta sounding superior. "I have helped him fix it before."

"You have not!" said Cleya. "I helped Rodney!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Stop!" Katrene yelled. "You are acting like five-year-olds!"

"I do not act like them!" Meeka yelled.

"Stop! Everyone listen," Katrene's voice cut through the noise. "Cleya and I will break the ZedPM. Casta, you sort out someone getting hurt or sick. We will meet in the morning. Agreed?" A chorus of 'yes and okay' followed her speech.

The children left the hut noticing that the sky was already getting dark. Cleya and Katrene headed into the forest toward the ruins. Both girls loved watching Rodney work, so they were very familiar with the ZPM and how it worked. On the way, they decided to just remove it and hide it.

Casta, Arek and Meeka were not having much luck on hurting someone. None of them wanted to be pushed down a hill or jump out of a tree or fall in a deep hole. As they walked back to the village with dejected looks on their faces, Meeka was stared at her feet trying not to cry. She really wanted the MMs that tasted so good. A red flash near the edge of the path caught her eye.

"Casta. Arek. Vesta berries," Meeka cried in triumph. She had experienced vesta berries last year and did not want that experience again.

"Great thinking, Meeka," Casta said. "This will get them sick enough for the doctor to need to come."

* * *

The next morning a very concerned Keras waited near the Ancestral ring with Casta, Ares and Cleya. Casta had gone to Keras first thing to say some of the young ones were sick. They were throwing up their food and would not stop, so Keras agreed they needed to contact Atlantis for help. Cleya along with Ares caught up with them on the way.

"The device is gone from the ruins, Keras," Ares's deep voice said.

"What?" Keras replied in surprise.

"The device that sits in the ruins," he said in frustration.

"It is called a ZedPM," Cleya said with an arrogant voice. _They are so stupid. I can't believe they are our leaders._

"Whatever!" Ares shouted. "According to Atlantis, we need it, which I still doubt by the way."

"The ZedPM powers the shield that protects our villages, you idiot," Cleya really was annoyed at these two. "How many times does Rodney have to tell you that!"

"Oh, no," Keras sighed. "Doctor McKay is going to be really angry."

"What else is new?" Ares shot back.

"He is only angry with you incompetents. He likes me," Cleya had a big grin on her face. _Wait until I help Rodney solve this problem._

They made the call as Rodney taught them how to and waited for a team to come. Since Atlantis knew the shield was down, they flew in with a couple of jumpers. Jumper One landed near the gate and Rodney along with Colonel Sheppard got out. Jumper Four went straight to the village to drop off the medical team.

_Uh-oh,_ Cleya thought, _they are not together. What if they did not send Jennifer? Is Rodney going to act mean?_

"What happened to the ZedPM?" Rodney demanded angrily from Keras.

"I don't know. Cleya and Ares just said it was gone," Keras replied defensively.

"Ares was patrolling the ruins and noticed it was missing," Cleya replied with a smile for Rodney.

"Let's go! I need to see what happened," Rodney was very angry this morning. He had worked himself up to ask Jennifer to a festival Teyla had invited them to. When he sat down across from her in the mess hall, this call came in. _I hate kids._

* * *

Jennifer exited the jumper with another doctor, Sharon Parsons. Sharon had done most of her work in pediatric medicine. They ran into enough children in the Pegasus galaxy to merit having a specialist in pediatric medicine on the expedition and Jennifer lobbied hard for her. Doctor Parsons and Jennifer had known each other from medical school. She arrived a week ago and Jennifer figured meeting the young occupants of M7G-677 was a good introduction to the children of Pegasus. The CMO also hated when anyone threw up and hearing about a bunch of puking kids, turned her stomach before she got there.

Casta, Arek and Meeka saw Jennifer and another young blond woman coming toward them.

"Casta. Arek. Meeka. It's good to see you three. This is a new doctor, Sharon Parsons. She is going to be taking care of you in the future. She knows all about taking care of sick kids," Jennifer smiled sweetly to the kids. She was going to miss not seeing them every couple of months, but she had too much work to do. The fact that she loved kids was not a good enough reason to always come here.

"Hello, its nice to meet you." Sharon said smiling to the kids. "Can you tell me what happened to your friends?"

The children explained that their friends probably had eaten something with vesta berries in it. The berries made you throw up your food.

"Brilliant! Thanks, Jennifer. A bunch of puking kids with food poisoning. I can't think of a better way to be introduced to the galaxy," Sharon said in her familiar British accent.

* * *

Rodney, Sheppard, Cleya, Keras and Ares arrived in the ruins and saw for themselves that the ZPM was gone.

"How could that happen?" The colonel asked his scientist.

"Someone must have removed it," Rodney was looking closely around the area for the familiar red-orange device.

John, Keras and Ares were milling about looking as well.

"How could someone take it out?" John asked.

"You need to push the buttons in a specific order. It's not really rocket science! I'm sure random punching of buttons would eventually result in the correct combination." Rodney growled as he felt fear forming in his chest. He made eye contact with Sheppard and nodded toward the other side of the enclosure built around the ZPM. The Lanteans headed that way.

Cleya moved over behind the stones so she could hear them. _So far Rodney only seems really mad._

"You know what this means, John," Rodney spoke with a voice Cleya never heard before. _He sounds…afraid._ _What is he afraid of?_

"Yes, I'm going back to Atlantis. We can mobilize all the jumpers and find out if the Daedalus can get here."

"We can use the jumpers to search for the ZedPM from the air. We should be able to find the energy signature faster. Why someone would take it out is beyond me?" Rodney said.

Cleya gulped. They will find it in her hut. _Uh-oh._ She left the shelter and took off at a run.

Back in the village, Jennifer and Sharon dealt with about fifteen vomiting children ranging from three to seven years old.

"Jennifer, we need to get more IVs from Atlantis and these two little sweeties need to get back to the infirmary," Sharon said pointing to the youngest victims who were both three.

"Mister Woolsey doesn't really want us to bring any of the children to the city, but this is too critical. I'll call a jumper," Jennifer stepped out of the hut to call on her radio.

Meeka looked at Casta and had tears in her eyes. "I did not want the little ones to be that sick."

"Meeka, don't cry," Casta said. He was feeling guilty about making the littlest ones so sick, too. _And they are not together with the candy they usually share with us. This sucks._

"Major Lorne?" Jennifer called welcoming the fresh air. She noticed little Meeka, Arek and Casta standing dejectedly at the side of the tent. Smiling at them, she noticed they looked away. _Uh-oh. That can't be a good sign._

"Major Lorne has already gone back. I'm just about ready to leave, too. What do you need, Doctor?" John Sheppard's voice called over the radio.

"I need you to come and collect Doctor Parsons and a couple little kids who are very sick," the CMO said.

"How sick?"

"You are not at risk, but the jumper might need a thorough cleaning when you get back," Jennifer smiled imagining the colonel's expression.

"Absolutely not! I'll send Lorne back," John replied.

"Get over here, Colonel, that's an order," The physician used her harshest doctor tone.

"Fine."

"Sharon, Colonel Sheppard is bringing the jumper here. Let's get these little boys out to the landing area," she said leaning back through the doorway of the hut.

"Colonel Sheppard?" Sharon suddenly stopped picking up the little boy closest to her as her face reddened.

"Yes," Jennifer tried not to smile. Sharon had been on base a week and had already got bitten by the Sheppard bug, something that missed Jennifer entirely. She had the Rodney McKay bug and was looking for a cure. He had tried nothing since she met him, so he was obviously not interested.

"Are they going to be okay?" Meeka asked.

"Katrene! Katrene!" Cleya was running through the village screaming. Seeing his sister so upset, Casta ran toward her.

"Yes, Meeka, they will be okay. The little ones are very sick, so we need to take them back with us," Jennifer looked down at the little girl with bright blue eyes and brown hair. For some reason, Rodney came to mind because Meeka looked like she could be his daughter. At that thought, Jennifer shook her head. _Where did that come from? Get a grip. You are supposed to be forgetting about him._

"We did not want them to get _that_ sick."

Jennifer stopped and looked at Meeka who now had tears running down her chubby cheeks. "What did you say, sweetie?"

"We did not want them that sick," Meeka said very quietly.

Jennifer kneeled in front of the little girl, so their eyes were level. "Why did you make your friends sick, sweetie?"

Sharon came out with one little boy and Jennifer heard Sheppard in her earwig asking where they were.

Meeka looked terrified when she saw how pale the little boy was. "We wanted you to come."

Jennifer knew she needed to stay with the little girl and get to the bottom of this. "You didn't need to get your friends sick to get me here."

She called Sheppard again, "Colonel, I need you to come into the village to get Sharon and the kids."

"I don't have time, Doc. We need to get a search mobilized to find the ZPM. It's missing," his voice came over the earwig.

Suddenly a bunch of things clicked in Jennifer's mind. She had spend years babysitting as a way to earn spending money and to get a break from her work during medical school, so she knew how kids thought. _Cleya yelling for Katrene, the missing ZPM, the guilty looks and the sick kids all add up to something, but what?_

"Just get here, now!" Jennifer had no time for John's whining.

Going on pure instincts, Jennifer asked, "Meeka, do you know what happened to the ZPM?"

"No, but Cleya and Katrene were taking care of it," she said quietly.

"Rodney," Jennifer pressed her earwig, smiling at Meeka.

"What's going on," Sharon asked from the doorway still holding the little boy.

Jennifer turned to look up at her friend. "Not sure, yet."

Suddenly the voice of Rodney sounded in her ear, causing a tingle to run down her spine. _How am I going to get over him, if I tremble when I hear his voice?_ "Rodney, I think you should come to the village."

"I don't have time. I'm trying to mobilize the kids with Keras and Ares to look for the ZPM."

"I think the ZPM is in the village," Jennifer stared straight into the eyes of little Meeka.

Meeka nodded.

"Yes, it is in the village, Rodney." Jennifer was prepared for the physicist's questions, so she cut him off. "Rodney. Rodney! I think the kids took it."

Jennifer fell back onto her backside ripping her earwig out of her ear. A lot of colorful words could be heard coming from it.

"He can really swear like a trooper," Sharon said shaking her head and raising her eyebrows.

"Rodney! Rodney!" Jennifer screamed into the earwig still holding it away from her.

"Why the hell am I here?" John yelled. He saw a petite blond doctor carrying a little boy in her arms. _She's cute, must be Doctor Parsons._ He calmed down a bit and smiled at the woman. "I don't think we've been properly introduced, I'm Colonel John Sheppard. You can call me John."

"Doctor Sharon Parsons, you can call me Sharon," the blushing doctor stammered.

"Let me help you with the little guys," he flashed his patented John Sheppard smile and followed Sharon into the hut to collect the other boy.

No one seemed to notice Jennifer sitting on the ground and trying to get Rodney to shut up by yelling into the earwig. _Great, Sheppard is lining up a new conquest in my department. _"Rodney! Listen to me!"

Arek could not believe that Meeka was crying and Jennifer was yelling at Rodney into the radio.

"This is terrible," Arek cried. "Now they are fighting. Why didn't this work?"

Jennifer gave up on Rodney. She could tell by his yelling that he was walking back to the village. _We should hear the shouting soon._

"Arek, what is going on?" Jennifer asked the boy of ten. He should be able to explain better than the obviously upset five-year-old. The old babysitter within her reached out for the crying child, pulling her into a hug.

"You and Rodney were supposed to bring us candy and tell us stories. You were not supposed to be fighting," Arek pouted.

"Rodney? Candy? Arek, why don't you start at the beginning?"

Rodney's yelling could be heard as he stomped into the village. "Where is it and who the hell took it?"

Jennifer did not think Rodney would hurt one of the kids, but she was not totally sure. Letting go of Meeka, she ran to intercept him. "Rodney. Rodney! Can I talk to you?"

"I'm sorry Jennifer but I don't have any time. Where the hell is the little…"

"Rodney!" The physician grabbed Rodney's arm and started dragging him away for the others. Keras looked at the children causing them to hang their heads even more.

"Jennifer, I don't have time for…" The astrophysicist tried to pull his arm from hers and question the kids.

"Rodney you have to calm down. Kids will not cooperate if you are mean and yell. They told me they wanted us to bring them candy and tell them stories like the last time we were here."

"What? Why would they steal the ZPM to do that?" Rodney shook his head and suddenly realized that Jennifer was still holding his arm. Even through his jacket, he felt the heat of her hand.

"I'm not sure but if you don't calm down, we'll never find out," Jennifer was standing very close to the man she loved; so close that the heat of his body was radiating through her clothing. _Ignoring him is going to be harder than I thought._

"Fine. Where are they?" Rodney still sounded angry.

"You know what. Let's play _parents_ for a while. I'm the good parent and you're the bad one. You just need to stand and look mean. Don't say anything. Okay?" Jennifer stared into his bright blue eyes willing him to obey her.

The intensity of her brown eyes told him to behave or else. "Fine. I'll act like my Dad. He never said much, just grabbed the belt after Mom screamed her head off."

"Well, there will be no taking your belt off," Jennifer suddenly got bright red as she continued with that train of thought. Quickly letting go of his arm and turning away, Jennifer saw all the kids, Arek, Cleya, Casta, Katrene and Meeka huddled together with Ares glaring at them and Keras smiling.

"Doctor McKay and Doctor Keller, I think you need to hear this story," he was having a hard time not laughing.

"What did you do?" Jennifer asked in a stern voice.

"We wanted…" Casta started.

"You said…" Cleya said.

"He was mean…" Meeka said.

"Whoa! Wait a minute. Not all at once. Casta, you are the oldest, so you start." Jennifer said.

Rodney stared in amazement as the children calmed down for Jennifer. _What a wonderful mother she is going to make. Whoa, where did that come from?_

"You and Rodney said you would bring a special candy treat the next time you came. But the other day only Rodney came. You were not here and he was really mean," Casta said glaring at Rodney.

"When you are here, he's not mean and you both tell us stories and share candy," Cleya jumped in.

"And everyone is happy," Meeka added.

Rodney and Jennifer looked from the kids to each other with the same thought going through each of their heads. The kids were right, they were happy when they were together.

"You said you'd bring those chocolate things you melt by the fire the next time you came," Arek said.

"S'mores! You did this for S'mores!" Rodney could contain himself no longer. "You could have killed everyone here for S'mores!"

"What is a S'more?" Meeka asked.

"Rodney, you are supposed to be the Dad, right?" Jennifer said, grabbing on his arms. "No talking or yelling."

Rodney was taken back by her contact once again. She was even more beautiful when she was annoyed. _How is that possible?_

"What are these S'mores?" Ares echoed Meeka's question. Even though he seemed to hate the Lanteans, he had a real sweet tooth.

"We take graham crackers, which are sweet and cookie-like, melt marshmallows, which are very sweet, and chocolate. You smooch the melted marshmallows and chocolate between the graham crackers and then eat them while they are hot." Jennifer explained. Rodney watched Ares and all the kids' eyes grow wide.

"A sandwich of sweet things?" Katrene finally sounded like a little kid instead of a small adult.

"We did promise them, Rodney," Jennifer looked back at him. "Kids don't forget those things."

"But…" Rodney started.

"Who took out the ZPM and were is it?" Jennifer asked calmly. She had stayed close to Rodney after she had grabbed him, so she could feel him tense. Glancing up with a 'be quiet or else' look, she saw him relax again.

"Cleya and I did," Katrene said.

"Wha…" Rodney started, but stopped when Jennifer spun with hands on hips to glare at him. "How did you manage that, kids?" He managed in a calm voice.

"Nice," Jennifer said smiling and then turned back to the kids.

"We learned how from watching Rodney." Cleya said.

"You figured it out from watching me?" Rodney was slightly impressed. "How old are you?"

"I'm ten and Katrene is eight," Cleya said holding her head high with chin jutting out like the lovable physicist.

Jennifer laughed. This little girl obviously had a crush on Rodney.

"What's so funny? She is obviously very smart," Rodney said.

"I'm sure she's happy to hear that," Jennifer kept laughing.

"What?"

"She obviously has a crush on you," the physician said quietly.

"Really?" Rodney sounded surprised. "I can't imagine any girl having a crush on me."

"I've had a crush on you since I got here, so I'm not surprised." Jennifer turned as she said it. Rodney's tone of voice, which was sad, made Jennifer realize that she should just go for it.

"Really!" The lovesick man was in shock. _Jennifer likes me?_ Rodney closed the distance between them and pulled Jennifer in his arms for a kiss.

"Yuck!"

"Eww!"

"Gross!"

The children cried and Keras burst out laughing. Rodney and Jennifer had to cut their kiss short as they started laughing, too.

"Well," said Arek sounding superior. "That's what happens before people have babies."

"Rodney is going to have a baby," Meeka squealed. "Oh, I want to hold her."

"It might be a boy you know," Casta said.

"Stop! No one is having a baby," Jennifer was horrified at the turn of this conversation. Still recovering from her first kiss with Rodney because of what the kids said, the last thing she wanted them to suggest was babies.

"Well, you know what they say about what comes out of the mouths of babes," Rodney grinned and pulled Jennifer close for a longer kiss.

* * *

**A/N:** **I give up trying to figure out where these come from.**


	13. What Does an Asgard Know About Dating?

**MGM owns all characters. Also, a quote taken from the great Joss Whedon and the film Serenity**

**Thanks scr1tno for this one.**

**Takes place right after The Seed with ****Spoilers**** to Critical Mass, Missing, Trio, The Seed**

**A/N: This one is really out there like the last couple. My back-story for Caldwell and Jennifer is AU, so warning up front. **

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* * *

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Steven Caldwell looked across the table at the man who saved his life in Vietnam. His chopper had been acting up, so he grabbed the Master Sergeant from the ground crew, who was a superb mechanic, to fly with him to see what was wrong. They crashed and were forced to hike through VC lines to get back to the base. The young lieutenant was injured and Master Sergeant Robert Keller dragged him out of the jungle beginning a life-long friendship. They were best men at each other's weddings and were there for each other during the ups and downs of life. Robert let Steven crash at his house in Wisconsin during his divorce. Steven was at Robert's side when he lost his beloved Annie. The career Air Force officer was also godfather to Robert's daughter, Jennifer. This was a fact that very few people knew about because Steven recruited the young Keller for the SGC program. It was his hope that she would serve on the Daedalus under him, so he could keep an eye on her. But Jennifer wanted to go to Atlantis and the fact that she was a genius gave her the choice of her assignment. In an effort to keep it from appearing that the young woman was shown any favoritism because the decorated officer was her godfather, they never discussed it in front of anyone.

Colonel Caldwell was not thrilled that she was isolated on Atlantis. He was terrified for her at times. After she was captured with Teyla on New Athos, he begged her to ask for a transfer, but Jennifer refused. _I have family on Atlantis now,_ she told him. Of course he reminded her that he and her father were family. She did not speak to him for months after that.

This time, she was not so quick to dismiss his support. The infection she got almost killed her. Caldwell had to refrain from putting his fist through a window when he read the report. That bureaucrat Woolsey had left her to die in an isolation lab. It was unforgivable and when he returned to Atlantis in three weeks, he was going to give Woolsey a piece of his mind. Sheppard did not know it, but Steven was now indebted to him.

"So, you leave tomorrow for this top secret project?" Robert asked. He had been in the military and was not a stupid man. He knew this project that Jennifer and Steven participated in was not on Earth, but he pretended they were in some secluded part of the planet.

"Yes," the colonel answered taking a long drink from his bottle of beer. Looking around the crowded bar in Colorado Springs to ensure no other SGC folks were around, he leaned toward his best friend. "Is Jennifer coming with me?"

"Yes. Which reminds me, I need to ask you something," Robert sat up. He expected to be having this conversation years ago, but better late than never. "Jennifer had a couple nightmares while home and talked in her sleep."

"Is she okay? She didn't say anything to me about nightmares. Said it was nice to get home that's all," Steven was concerned because Jennifer had been more elusive about her feelings and what was going on for the last few months.

"Well, she didn't wake up screaming," Robert paused realizing his next few words were actually going to mean something to Steven. "She said a name and it seemed to calm her and she fell back to sleep. I think she really likes this guy. His name is Rodney."

Caldwell was in the middle of a swig of beer and spewed it out coughing. "What?"

"I take it you know him?"

"Yes." _Rodney? Is there another Rodney in the SGC? Oh God, I hope so. _"There is a Rodney involved in the project and they do work together, but not closely. He's not a medical doctor."

"I asked her about him and she lost her composure. I thought I had a teenager sitting across the breakfast table from me. Turned red. Reminded me of Susan, your ex when I asked her if she liked you," Robert laughed remembering when Steven begged his best friend to speak on his behalf to a nurse in Hawaii that they both knew.

"Really? She never mentioned him to me." Caldwell really hoped Robert was wrong.

"I got a little more out of her after that morning. Apparently when she was recovering, he stayed by her side."

"Really?" Caldwell knew of McKay's hypochondria and it surprised him. Thinking back to his last trip to Atlantis, he did remember seeing them eating in the mess together. Actually they were always eating together and sitting together at briefings. _Why didn't I see it? I was worried about Sheppard and the Alien._

"I take it you don't like the guy?"

"No. Yes. I… He's a genius. Some say the smartest man on the planet, which I tend to believe. And he's brave. Risked his life more times than I can count for all of us. He just has a lot of really annoying personality traits." Steven realized he did not hate McKay like Ellis did. He was just annoyed by him.

"Such as?"

"Whiny, condescending, boastful, arrogant, disrespectful…"

"Reminds me of a smartass Academy graduate I once knew," Robert chuckled. "So, I'm going to like him then."

* * *

Jennifer usually hated to meet 'Uncle Steven' in his quarters. She knew the crew of the Daedalus had rumors about a relationship going on behind closed doors between their older CO and the young doctor. Atlantis' CMO chuckled. If they only knew that dinner, chess, and ice cream where the typical occurrences, they would not gossip. She put it off for the first couple weeks of the trip back to Atlantis, but finally relented.

"Colonel," she said entering his quarters. Once the door closed, the young woman collapsed onto the sofa.

"You can't be tired. You haven't done anything but read and work on your computer," her godfather said looking up from the small table he sat at with their dinner. "I'm starving so I'm eating."

"Woolsey," Jennifer groaned.

Steven tensed at the sound of the hated administrator's name, "What did he do?"

"He won't let me stay on active duty without a full psych evaluation every week for the next month. Making me sit with a shrink talking about my feelings about having something else taking over my mind is just what I need." The doctor walked over to sit across from him. The chicken Parmesan and ziti looked really good but she was not hungry.

"If you need to talk, you know I'm here for you. I'll talk to Woolsey," he said.

"No!"

"Hear me out!" her godfather said harshly. "I know a thing or two about having someone else take over your mind."

"I'm sorry Uncle Steven," Jennifer paused ever since she was baby, he was Uncle Steven to her. Her father and the Colonel were closer than her dad was with his brother.

The physician had forgotten about the Goa-uld that inhabited her beloved 'uncle'. After that incident, Caldwell visited her in Chicago, but it was not until she joined the program and read the report that found out why he was on leave for several weeks. She had been fascinated by the beaming technology used to remove the parasite by the Asgard. She was working on a proposal for Caldwell and Hermiod, which was almost done.

"I would be the perfect person for you to talk to," he saw her lose her anger at his intrusion. "We can start now if you'd like."

"Not really. I'd like to forget about it for a while." She finally started to eat some of her food.

"Your Father tells me you are having nightmares." Never one for subtlety, he jumped right in.

"What? I have not woken up screaming from a nightmare since I got back to Earth," Jennifer was really upset. "I sleep through the night."

"He said you didn't wake up. Just talked in your sleep," the man who was her surrogate father watched her closely as he said the next piece. "He said you would mumble a name, smile and then drift back to sleep."

Pure terror crossed Jennifer's face as all color drained. _I didn't!_ The CO picked up his glass of water and took a drink never taking his eyes off her. "Well… Ah… I… Um…"

"Can't put a coherent thought together, not making eye contact, white as a sheet then turning red, I think you are hiding something," the career officer said trying not to smile. _She really likes him. Why?_

"I'm not hiding anything. I have a lot of good friends on Atlantis. Did Dad catch the name I mumbled? I could probably explain it if he'd asked. I mean John Sheppard saved me; Radek and Ronon got hurt trying to help me. I could have said Carson, Evan, Teyla or Marie." Jennifer was getting agitated.

Steven had heard enough. The fact that one name in particular was left off the list spoke volumes. "He just asked me if you had a special someone. I told him of course not. You have more important things to do than chase men. A genius like you has her priorities straight."

_What do I know about chasing men? I couldn't if I wanted to and right now I'd love to. _

With that, her godfather dropped the subject. He was interested in finding out about her research project regarding Wraith feeding and she mentioned her desire to collaborate with Hermiod, which he thought was an excellent idea. After dinner, they settled in for their chess match.

On her way to her temporary quarters, she thought about what Caldwell said about her having "a special someone". _They really think I'm too caught up with research to have feelings for someone. _Her mind wandered to the man that haunted her dreams. He saved her in the Genii mine and now just thinking of him keeps her sanity in check. Rodney's voice was the last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness from the infection. _Too bad he would never be interested in me. I'm not tough like Sam or as sweet as Katie Brown was._ She lost her temper with him, argued with him and teased him in front of his teammates. _Not exactly putting my best foot forward. _With a long sigh, Jennifer stepped into her quarters and got ready for another night of dreaming about Rodney.

* * *

The next morning, Jennifer arrived in the mess hall to see members of the engineering department having an animated conversation.

"A week! A whole week. What the hell is Caldwell thinking?" Captain Hale said shaking his head in disbelief.

"I know. We're going to fall behind, the idea won't work the way he thinks it will and we'll have to fix the problem."

"Yeah, we'll drop out of hyperspace and it will take more than a week to get to Atlantis."

"Please. Maybe this time…" Lindsay Novak started.

"Come on Novak. We've been coming out here for over three years and every time he steps foot on the ship, something goes to hell."

"McKay is a giant albatross dragging us down," Hale finished slamming his coffee cup onto the table.

"You idiot! An albatross is good luck unless some idiot kills it," Jennifer was furious. She slammed her tray down next to the obnoxious engineers. "How dare you talk about Rodney like that! He has saved your sorry asses, Atlantis, Pegasus and Earth more times than your collective IQs add up to!"

Colonel Caldwell and Major Marx walked into the mess hall in time to hear Jennifer's outburst. Her stance near Captain Hale made the Daedalus CO fear she was going to strike the engineer. Quickly racing across the mess hall to get between his goddaughter and the captain, he had to hold in his laughter. _Jennifer was defending Rodney!_

"Doctor Keller," he harshly said. "What are you doing!"

"Unc… Uh… I will not let your crew insult Rodney. I am sick of everyone forgetting all that he does for them." Jennifer's eyes pleaded as she looked at him.

"Enough. Doctor McKay is the Head of Science and Research on Atlantis and deserves as much respect as a senior military officer. When he comes on board for the next week, I expect you to act like we have a member of the Joint Chiefs here. Have I made myself clear?"

Silence filled the mess hall and a chorus of _'yes, sir' _could be heard. Jennifer looked at the colonel realizing what he said. _Rodney was coming on the Daedalus for the next week?_

Firmly turning his goddaughter toward the corridor, he walked out behind her. "I have never heard you be so rude to someone. I can't imagine anything he said was worth physical violence."

Because she was still agitated about the insults she heard directed at the man she loved, she growled at him, "I am sick of everyone being so mean to Rodney. He saves everyone even though they are horrible to him. If he were as bad as everyone says he is, he'd never do this for a living. He'd stay in Area 51, where he didn't have to deal with idiots and do research. And if he didn't care, he wouldn't be there for me… his team when they need him."

"Jennifer, you need to calm down." He really could not stop the grin from forming. The little girl that he watched grow up was now the woman before him. Her eyes were pleading with him to do something to erase the injustice inflicted on Rodney all these years. Steven Caldwell could think of what to do but he needed to know how McKay felt about Jennifer. Based on what she had said about him staying by her side, he had a good idea but needed to know for certain. A plan formed in the Colonel's mind. "Let's get some food in my office."

"No, I'm not hungry anymore. I would like to get the research proposal to present to you, Novak and Hermiod finished," Jennifer said. She basically told her godfather that she liked Rodney and did not want to hang around the man in case he figured it out.

"The beam weapon as a surgical tool idea you mentioned last night?" he asked.

"Yes."

"That's a great idea."

"Thank you. Well, I'll be going. I'm sorry I was going to beat up one of your chief engineers," she smiled weakly.

"Hale is more arrogant than McKay. It's good for him to be put in his place," Caldwell was not a fan of the hotshot engineer that the IOA forced him to pick up. The captain was related to some bureaucrat.

"Don't worry. I'll apologize."

"Absolutely not. Don't worry about it," he reached out to give her shoulder a squeeze. "I need to get ready for McKay's arrival anyways. He's gating out to meet us with a jumper. Flying solo, so Sheppard had already sent several messages asking if we got him. I don't think he trusts McKay to pilot a jumper by himself."

"So it's just Rodney? Not the whole team?" Jennifer felt her heart racing. Without his team around, Rodney was more likely to let his guard down. She tried not to look excited.

"Just McKay…" At that moment, he got a call from the bridge. "Need to go. I'll catch you later. Stay out of trouble."

"Of course, Colonel. I am a model of discipline."

His laughter could be heard for some time as he walked up the corridor. Jennifer smiled broadly. _A week with just Rodney and me. This could be the best trip on the Daedalus ever._

* * *

Rodney McKay was excited to get on the Daedalus. His calculations should help improve the efficiency of the hyperdrive to the point that the trip to Earth would be cut in half. _If only that arrogant little Asgard will let me touch his precious engines without hovering. _There was also the knowledge that Jennifer was on the ship. He could not stop thinking about her. She was almost killed during her infection with the Hive ship virus, as they were calling it. Realizing he could not live without her was a frightening revelation for the arrogant, self-centered man. He thought he had been in love with Katie Brown or even Samantha Carter, but his emotions for those two women where like school-aged crushes compared to the feelings he had toward Jennifer.

"Jumper Two, this is the Daedalus," came a voice over the com system.

"This is Jumper Two, Daedalus. Nice of you to finally get here. You are a half hour late," he snarked to the familiar voice of the communications officer of the Daedalus.

"We will open the outer door to the 302 bay for you to dock."

"Setting intercept course. I should be in range in five minutes," McKay flew the jumper toward the ship that just dropped out of hyperspace in front of him.

Colonel Caldwell was waiting to greet the physicist when he came out of his jumper along with Doctor Lindsay Novak and Captain Jacob Hale.

"Welcome aboard, Doctor McKay," the CO of the Daedalus said extending a hand. Rodney looked surprised, but quickly recovered to shake the man's hand. _He had a firm grip. _Steven realized he never paid much attention to McKay because he was always spouting off techno-babble to prove how smart he was making him easy to ignore. Now, he found himself studying everything about the man before him. The genius was dressed in the new black uniform the Atlantis gate teams received. He had a couple bags with him and his body language spoke of someone with supreme confidence in his abilities.

"Captain Hale, can you take Doctor McKay's bags and get them situated in his guest quarters?"

The captain had a look of bewilderment at being told by his CO to carry McKay's luggage. "Yes, sir."

"Well Doctor, you have the run of engineering for the rest of this trip. Doctor Novak and Captain Hale are at your disposal. Hermiod is working on another collaboration but will be available if you need him."

Rodney was shocked at the amount of cooperation Caldwell was showing. "T-t-thank you, Colonel. Things will go much faster without having to permission for every modification from the Asgard."

The colonel smiled as he led the way to engineering. Earlier that afternoon, he met with Jennifer to hear her proposal for the research she wanted to do with Hermiod. If Jennifer and Hermiod could find a way to fine tune the Asgard beam weapon, it could be a surgical cutting tool. Its ability to remove tumors, clots, or even foreign objects would advance surgical technique decades into the future his goddaughter said. The excitement in her face sealed the deal for Caldwell and he ordered Hermiod to work with her for the next week and allow McKay to run his experiments. She was in a very good mood at lunch. He was certain it had to do with the man at his side coming on board. Whenever he mentioned Atlantis' Head of Research, the young woman got an almost dreamy look on her face. _She's got it really bad. Need to find out how he feels._

"So Doctor McKay, how is Mister Woolsey settling in?"

An audible groan came from the physicist. "As well as can be expected for an IOA lackey."

Caldwell tried not to grin. "He can't be that bad."

"Let's see. He was ready to sacrifice his CMO on his second day. He kept me and anyone with enough knowledge to help quarantined and cut off from any part of the plan. When it became apparent that he was in over his head, his answer was to suggest we kill Jennifer. I wanted to take his head off."

Caldwell stopped and turned so abruptly that McKay almost plowed into him. Novak kept walking and had to stop looking back at her CO and McKay.

"Doctor Novak, you can continue to engineering. We'll meet you there," Caldwell could not keep the anger out of his voice. _What the hell did McKay say about Woolsey?_

"Yes, sir." Lindsay continued up the hallway.

"What do you mean Woolsey was going to kill Jennifer?" He was so angry that all the formality he usually used was gone. There was nothing in Woolsey's meticulous report that talked about killing Atlantis' CMO.

"When it became obvious this entity possessing Jennifer was a threat to the city, he mentioned using drones against it. But it was still Jennifer! Sheppard, Ronon and I all volunteered to bring the treatment to her. At least he gave Sheppard the chance. But I'll tell you, I would have decked him and taken it to her myself if he disagreed," The outrage and anger the scientist felt came through loud and clear to Caldwell, who was momentarily overcome by rage himself.

"Instead of trying to save her, his first thoughts were to eliminate the threat?" Caldwell snarled.

"Yes! I knew we were in trouble when the recalled Sam, but Woolsey…" Rodney was shaking his head. He was heartened to see the colonel was as upset as he was. "You don't try to kill your people. Ever!"

Caldwell knew there was times when you needed to sacrifice _'the one to save the many'_ and he also knew McKay realized that. This was not one of those times because the woman they cared about and loved could have been _'the one'_ that was sacrificed. "I'll deal with Woolsey when we get to Atlantis. I can assure you."

McKay and Caldwell stood with their eyes locked for a moment longer. A quiet message passed between the men and Steven knew McKay loved his goddaughter.

"You better catch up with Novak. I need to get back to the bridge. I hope you get a chance to join us for dinner in the Captain's mess tonight."

"Huh, oh… Sure. I'll be there." _Caldwell never invited me to eat with him. I guess he hates the idea of Woolsey on Atlantis, too._

Colonel Caldwell was quite confident now that McKay cared a great deal about Jennifer. Perhaps was in love with her. Never in his years of knowing McKay did the man willingly want to face danger for another. He would grumble and complaint until the threat of a kick to his ass got him going. Then he would save them and never let them forget that he saved the day. _Dinner should be interesting._

* * *

Jennifer received notice to join Steven for dinner in the Captain's mess. She was busy going over her proposal with Hermiod all afternoon and lost track of the time. The Asgard was very receptive and willing to work with her. _I wonder if Rodney is here?_ Making her way back to her quarters, she debated if she should wear her uniform or go casual. As a civilian who was off duty, it was her right. _Would Uncle Steven invite Rodney to dinner? Probably not. _On the off chance that her godfather did invite McKay, she grabbed a pink sweater and long black skirt with tiny pink flowers on it. Leaving her hair down, she took a final look in the mirror and said a silent prayer that the grouchy physicist would be there.

Jennifer entered the private dining area of the commanding officer of the Daedalus to see Major Marx and Captain Buckner, the CMO of the Daedalus. Both men smiled when she entered. "Good evening. What do we have this evening for dinner?"

"Uh… I… Not sure what the mess prepared," Doctor Buckner was a little tongue-tied with the beautiful doctor.

"Don't tell me you never saw me in civilian clothes before. I've been on the Daedalus many times," she could not hide the blush. If Rodney is here, maybe he'll have a similar reaction.

Caldwell, Novak and McKay entered the private dining area together. The physicists were giving the CO an update on the modifications they made so far to the engines. Upon entering the room, Rodney's eyes were immediately drawn to the beauty in the middle of the room. She was laughing and talking with two soldiers. Everything faded away for Rodney as the image of the woman he loved overwhelmed him. She was more beautiful than he remembered. It was less than a month since he last saw her, but it felt like an eternity to him. Her golden hair formed a halo around her beautiful face. When she turned to face him, he was able to catch the full effects of her dazzling smile. A huge grin broke out over his face.

"Rodney. It's good to see you. I hope things will be okay on Atlantis since we are both off-base at the same time." Her laughter caused him to smile even more.

"Uh…Ah…Sure they survive," he could not make a coherent thought come out of his mouth with this beautiful woman walking over to him.

"How are the modifications going? Major Marx said you could cut the trip in half if they work." The physician noticed that Rodney looked stunned. _I'm glad I decided to wear this outfit._ It was not sexy in any manner of the word, but it made her feel feminine. Pink was secretly still her favorite color.

"Sergeant, you can serve the meal now," Steven said to one of the kitchen staff waiting to bring in their food. As soon as he saw the look on McKay's face at seeing Jennifer, he knew what to do. The Colonel, who never had any children nor wanted them, felt like a father watching his daughter grow up. The two geniuses were acting like teenagers on a first date, the glances, the flush in their cheeks, the way they each laughed a little longer and louder at the other's comments and the _subtle_ way they ended up sitting next to each other.

Once they finished dinner, Steven decided to put his plan into motion. "Doctor McKay and Doctor Keller, I need to discuss some things with my senior team. Would you mind if I threw you both out early?"

Jennifer was more than happy to leave with Rodney. They had a wonderful dinner. He was funny and witty during the entire meal never once snapping or yelling at anyone. His arrogance was even in check. _Maybe I should dress like this all the time._

"Sure. Thank you for a wonderful meal, Colonel," Rodney said. He got up and pulled Jennifer's chair back for her. It was as if some instinct kicked in because he would never do something like that before.

A stunned Daedalus senior team watched the two Lanteans leave with red faces and quick glances at each other.

"I feel like I've been intruding on a first date," Doctor Buckner said laughing.

"I know exactly what you mean," Marx added taking a drink of water from his glass.

"I have never known McKay to be so… so normal?" Lindsay said shaking her head. She found herself thinking about the arrogant man in a new light. "I never realized how cute his is." After saying that, the terrified woman started hiccupping.

A round of laughter broke out. Laughter that included their CO.

"Well. Since McKay comes on our ship with great frequency. I think we should ensure we get this pleasant fellow instead of the other one," the colonel said to his senior staff.

"And how do we do that, sir," the CMO said.

"We ensure that he and Jennifer are a couple," Steven never thought he would be setting his beloved Jennifer up with someone, but it was obvious to everyone that McKay was smitten with her.

"How do we do that, sir," Marx asked.

"We are going to have to work on Jennifer. I don't think McKay has it in him to make the first move. I suggest Novak ask McKay out on a date," Caldwell said as if he were telling the physicist to alter something in engineering.

"What!" she shrieked. "I couldn't (hiccup) ask him (hiccup). I never (hiccup) ask men out (hiccup, hiccup)."

The other men laughed.

"Don't worry. He won't say yes. He's in love with Jennifer," their CO said. "We just need you to talk about him to Jennifer."

"But (hiccup)…" Novak was terrified. "Why am I doing this? (hiccup) You can't make me."

"Would you like to run engineering without Hermiod for a month?"

"Would I? Of course!" Lindsay was imagining all the experiments she could run. "How?"

"He's been wanting to eavesdrop on his fellow Asgard on the Sun Tzu, so I will give him the chance." Caldwell knew the Asgard was as arrogant as they came.

"So tomorrow morning, ask McKay out on a date. I doubt he'll go through with it, but you just need to brag to Jennifer about it at lunch. If he says no, tell her you won't give up. If he says yes, which he'll only do if he has no spine whatsoever with women, tell her about your future date. Knowing Jennifer as long as I have, she will not back down from a challenge." As he explained the plan out loud, he felt more confident.

"I don't know, sir (hiccup) but I think you are (hiccup) making (hiccup) a mistake using (hiccup) me," Lindsay quickly grabbed the water taking a gulp.

"Sir," Marx began. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead, Major," Caldwell said looking intently at his pilot.

"I understand wanting to make McKay more bearable to be around, but why _help_ Doctor Keller? Assuming hooking any woman up with McKay is _helping_ her."

"This does not leave this room, but Jennifer's dad and I served in Vietnam together. I've known her since she was born. Got a picture around here somewhere with me holding her as a baby," Caldwell said with a wistful look on his face.

"Oh, thank God," Buckner said with a huge sigh.

"Fine, you can tell people. Anything to kill those damned rumors," the CO of the Daedalus looked around the table. He knew about the rumors.

"Sir," Novak started again. "I…"

"Just do it, Novak. Get help if you need to. Keep thinking about how wonderful it will be without Hermiod for at least a month."

Lindsay nodded. _Fine! If he doesn't deliver, there will be hell to pay._

* * *

The next morning found Doctor Novak alone with Hermiod in engineering. Doctor McKay was still in the cafeteria with Doctor Keller. They were giggling and laughing like school children when she left. _Why did Caldwell ask me to do this?_ "I have no idea what to do."

"What are you trying to do, Doctor Novak?" the familiar voice of the Asgard made her realize she was speaking out loud.

"Oh, nothing." _Maybe he can help._ "No, stupid idea, Novak."

"I have found that when you talk to yourself you are contemplating a difficult situation that you must work through. Perhaps I can help you," Hermiod offered.

Staring in amazement at the little Asgard she had a flash of fear that he could read her mind. "No. This is human stuff. You would not understand."

"I have a wealth of information regarding humans. Having superior intellect and working with humans has given me insights you do not have."

_Arrogant, little runt. Fine let's see how you do with this._ "I need to ask someone on a date."

"A date," he paused and looked as if he was looking something up in his brain. "Oh yes. Part of the human mating ritual."

"Yes." _This is too weird, talking about dating with an Asgard._

"Who do you wish to mate with?"

"What! No, date. Not mate," Lindsay was horrified as Rodney McKay entered engineering with a smile on his face, which faded when he saw Hermiod.

"I thought you were working with Jennifer this morning?" He said to the Asgard.

"I must check the modifications you did on my engines."

McKay took a deep breath. _You just spent an hour listening to Jennifer laugh and smile at you. You can deal with him._ "Fine. Let me know if you see something we need to…fix."

He shot a smile at Novak who was staring at him with an odd expression. Her eyes were not blinking and she seemed to be shaking. "Are you okay?"

"Huh… Yes (hiccup) Fine (hiccup)," she tried to get out. Her nerves were shot. _Imagine Hermiod is not here for a month, _she reminded herself. "Doctor McKay (hiccup) I need (hiccup) need (hiccup)."

"What do you need?" Rodney was getting concerned for the female engineer. She was turning bright red and her hiccups were much more frequent. "Why don't you sit down? I'll find you a drink."

"Need (hiccup, hiccup)" Lindsay felt herself getting light headed. _Need to breath._ "You." (hiccup)

"Need me to what?" The astrophysicist moved toward the head of engineering.

"This is a waste of time," came Hermiod's voice from his console. "Doctor Novak wishes to ask you to mate."

"What!" Both physicists yelled at the same time. Rodney turned to stare at Lindsay who immediately passed out. Catching her before her head hit the computer terminal, the genius lowered her to the ground. Hitting his earwig, he called the only person who came to mind. "Jennifer! Emergency in engineering."

"Rodney! Are you okay? What happened?" Jennifer sounded frantic.

"Novak passed out."

"On my way. Call Caldwell, I'll call medical."

"Sure," McKay looked in shock at the Asgard who was making his way over to his fallen colleague. "Caldwell!"

"McKay?"

"Doctor Novak collapsed in engineering. I called Jennifer and she's coming with a medical team."

"On my way."

Rodney looked from the Asgard to the engineer. Novak wants to have sex with me and told Hermiod? _She's one weird chick. _He reached out to touch her pulse to find it was still strong and her chest was moving, so she was still breathing. Not sure what else to do, he stayed kneeling next to the woman.

"Rodney," a breathless Jennifer Keller said when she entered engineering with two med techs in tow. "What happened?"

"Well…" _How do I tell the woman I love this one wants to have sex with me?_ "We were… talking and… and…"

Caldwell came in now while Jennifer and the technicians kneeled around Lindsay. McKay was backing out of the way, so he asked him, "What happened?"

"We were talking and she looked… she looked like she was going to be sick. Then she collapsed," he answered.

"You!" Lindsay sat up almost knocking Jennifer over. She followed Lindsay's finger, which was pointing at her godfather. "This is your fault. Don't ever ask me to be part of one of your schemes."

The look of shock on Caldwell's face would live with Jennifer forever. It was almost comical, but the excited engineer was on a roll turning now to glare at the little Asgard. "And you! It's _date_ not _mate_!"

"What?" Jennifer was really lost now.

"And you," Lindsay looked Jennifer straight in the face. "He is madly in love with you. Everyone can see it. I thought you were a genius!"

"Who are you talking about?" The CMO of Atlantis felt a migraine coming on because of all the confusing statements coming from this woman who clearly lost her mind. Looking at her godfather, who looked like he got caught with a hand in the cookie jar, caused something to click in her head. Standing slowly, she said to the man who was her second father, "What did you do, Uncle Steven?"

"Uncle Steven?" The smartest man in two galaxies was as lost in this conversation as the woman he loved.

The Colonel realized his mistake in trusting Novak. Now Jennifer looked like she was on the border of losing it herself. Taking a deep breath, he decided to come clean. Looking at Rodney and Jennifer. "I realized the two of you are in love with each other and decided to force one of you to make a move. I figured Jennifer was more likely to do something if she thought another woman was interested in you." He nodded toward Lindsay who was being helped to her feet by the med techs.

"What?" Jennifer felt her throat tightening and a red stain creeping up her face.

"Your father told me that you would say Rodney's name in your sleep. I realized as soon as you and I talked about him that you were head-over-heels. Being a genius, I was surprised you didn't figure it out."

"And you," he said turning to McKay. "Grow a spine when it comes to the woman you are so obviously crazy about. It'll be worth it. Trust me when I say you don't get a second chance."

Silence permeated the room. Jennifer and Rodney turned toward each other with smiles slowly spreading over their faces at the same time. Caldwell began to grin. _Looks like they finally figured it out._

"For the record, I'm not actually her uncle. I've known her all her life and think of her as a daughter," Caldwell said even though he knew Rodney was not listening. The look on the physicists face was one of adoration and love for the woman standing in front of him. Moving faster than Steven thought the genius was capable of doing; he captured Jennifer in his arms and began kissing her in earnest.

Caldwell coughed as his beloved surrogate daughter wrapped her arms around McKay's neck and pressed her body against his. The two suddenly shimmered and disappeared from the lab.

"What?" Lindsay gulped.

"As I said before Doctor Novak, I have insight into the workings of the human mind. Dating leads to mating, but not in _my_ engine room." With that, the little Asgard turned his back on the stunned humans to finish the diagnostic on _his_ engines.

* * *

**A/N: Of course there will be more. Until I run out of extras on the show :)**


	14. IOA Inquiry

**MGM owns all characters.**

**Thanks scr1tno for pushing me to publish this.**

**Takes place after The Shrine with ****Spoilers**** to Adrift, Missing, The Last Man, Tabula Rosa, The Shrine**

**A/N: This one is really out there. I've been in a whump Jennifer mode in some of my stories lately. Sorry, but she's got Rodney to save her. If only some of us could be so lucky.**

* * *

Jennifer Keller could not hold her tears back while racing to her quarters. The email she just read from the IOA was devastating to her already weakened self-esteem. They were sending a representative, who was already in route on the Daedalus to investigate her handling of Rodney's Second Childhood infection. _Since Doctor McKay is vital to the success of the Atlantis Expedition, his near death under the sole care of the Chief Medical Officer must be investigated. _The words would not leave her head. She had tears streaming down her face and did not see where she was going, so she ran into Major Lorne.

"Jennifer! What's wrong?" Evan grabbed her shoulders.

Because she did think of Evan as a big brother, she suddenly threw her arms around him to cry on his shoulder.

"Jennifer," Lorne's voice was full of concern. "What is it?"

He pushed her back to look at her face and see if she was injured. Jennifer looked into his blue eyes, which were wide open and full of fear. Realizing that they were in the corridor and that no one ever saw her so emotional before, she swiped at her face with her sleeve.

"Let's go to my office," Lorne said looking around, seeing Chuck and motioning for the Gate tech to move along. He slid his arm around her shoulders and they moved quickly to his office.

* * *

Chuck Campbell had never seen Jennifer so upset; her beautiful face was red and tear streaked. He walked upon her hugging Lorne, so he had no idea who caused her to be upset or if it had to do with the Major. Rushing off to the mess hall, he knew exactly whom he needed to find.

Team Sheppard was seated on the balcony with Mister Woolsey enjoying their dinner. Chuck had to raise an eyebrow at that. The administrator never sat in the mess hall to eat with people.

"Colonel, Mister Woolsey," Chuck greeted them by name and nodded to McKay, Teyla and Ronon.

"Chuck," Sheppard said as he reclined back in his chair.

"I was wondering if any of you knew why Doctor Keller might be so upset?" Chuck asked. He really liked the young CMO. She was from Wisconsin and he was from Ontario Canada, across Lake Superior from her home state.

"What!" Rodney sat bolt upright and yelled.

"What are you talking about, Chet?" Woolsey asked.

"It's Chuck, sir. I saw her crying with Major Lorne in the corridor. They headed off somewhere," he said.

McKay quickly hit his radio before Sheppard had a chance. "Major Lorne!"

"Yes, it's McKay. Where are you?" Rodney looked annoyed as John tried to tell him to calm down. "What do you mean you can't talk? I can find you with the scanners, you know?"

"McKay!" John finally shouted to get Rodney to stop yelling at Lorne. "Let me handle it."

"Major Lorne, it's Colonel Sheppard. I need to speak to you. Where are you?" Sheppard looked at Rodney who had jumped up and started pacing. It was obvious to everyone that he was very concerned about Jennifer, perhaps more than a _friend_ should be.

"Listen, I understand if you can't talk. Are you in your office?" The Colonel asked while everyone looked on intently. "Stay there. They are in his office. I can hear Doctor Keller in the background. She sounds like she's crying."

John could not finish his statement before Rodney was flying out of the mess hall. Since his infection with the Second Childhood parasite, his relationship with the CMO seemed much stronger. He was always around her and she seemed to be paying extra attention to him, as well. Sheppard had begun to speculate that the _weird_ happenings in the other time line were coming true here as well.

* * *

Jennifer could not get herself to stop crying on Lorne's shoulder. All her self-doubt and personal recriminations regarding her inability to help Rodney during his illness were coming out. She had buried the feelings in her work and had not faced them. Now she was going to face them in front of the cold IOA. Her career with the SGC would be over. If she was lucky, she imagined she would be back on Earth in a research lab. If not, she would be heading back to Chippewa Falls to open a private practice and live out her days with her Dad.

As she let the wave of pain wash over her, voices other than Lorne's could be heard, but could not permeated her sobbing. She felt Lorne moving away and buried her face in her hands once he was gone. _Need to get a grip._ _Breathe_.

"I…I'm… s-s-sorry," Jennifer tried to say only to have her voice break. Once again strong arms wrapped around her and a broad shoulder appeared for her to put her head on. Slipping her arms around his back, she buried her head into his neck. The loss of her position and the humiliation was going to be nothing compared to losing the man she loved. She had almost killed him and now _would_ lose him because of her incompetence. _There is no way Rodney will want anything to do with you when he finds out._

"Jennifer, please calm down." Rodney's voice was full of concern and he stroked her hair with one hand.

_Rodney's voice!_ Jennifer sat up rapidly to see a different set of blue eyes staring at her with concern. She quickly pulled her arms from around him. Silence permeated the room.

* * *

Rodney could not imagine what would upset Jennifer to tears other than a death. Fear that something might have happened to Jennifer's father back on Earth gripped him as he ran to Lorne's office. The annoying Major, who thought he was her brother, would not tell him what upset her or where they were. He could hear her sobs in the radio and it ripped his heart.

Over the last few months, it was harder for the cantankerous physicist to deny the attraction he felt for Jennifer. After his illness, he found he made every excuse imaginable to spend time with her, including collaborating on some joint research involving the Wraith she was working on.

When he arrived with Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Woolsey on his heels, he saw Lorne kneeling on the floor with Jennifer crying in his arms. Rushing into the room and over to her, the Major rose when they entered causing Jennifer to bury her face in her hands.

"Doc…" Lorne could not finish his sentence because Rodney pushed the soldier out of his way and assumed the same position Evan just left in front of Jennifer.

After she mumbled her apology, he wrapped his arms around Jennifer and stroked her hair with one hand and asked her to calm down. She stiffened and pulled away from him staring in horror into his eyes. The sight of her beautiful brown eyes red and full of tears made him want to fix whatever had happened, even if it was something terrible.

"Jennifer," Rodney said, "Please tell me what's wrong. Did something happen to your father?"

"What?" Jennifer asked in shock because she now saw Woolsey, Lorne, Teyla, Ronon and Sheppard standing behind Rodney all with looks of concern on their faces. "My father?"

"Jennifer, what is it?" Rodney asked again as he was still kneeling in front of her but had dropped his hands to the arms of the chair.

"I… What are you all doing here?" Jennifer managed to find her voice.

Rodney thought she looked like she had a little more strength in her. She was still trembling, so he did not want to leave her side. Memories of her staying near him during his illness drifted into his consciousness from time to time. He swore if he could ever be there for her, he would.

"Doctor Keller, perhaps we should finish this conversation in my office," Mister Woolsey added. He looked uncomfortable, but was trying to calm his employee.

"That… That would be fine, Mister Woolsey," Jennifer said as she glanced at Rodney. Shame covered her face and she swiped at her tears with her hands. Without thinking, Rodney moved his hand and wiped them away with his thumb.

* * *

Jennifer was horrified to see Team Sheppard and Woolsey standing around while she sobbed on Rodney and Lorne. _They will be happy to see the crazy CMO sent packing._

Jennifer smiled at Rodney and his kindness. _He thinks I did this amazing thing and saved him when my lack of professionalism caused his problems._ "I'm okay. Just… a lot of… stress."

Jennifer got up with Rodney mirroring her movement. He appeared to want to help her, but his hands fell to his side. It appeared he was suddenly as embarrassed as Jennifer with his actions of the last few minutes.

"Thank you all for your concern," Jennifer managed in a shaky voice as she walked toward Woolsey and the door out of Lorne's office. "Thanks, Evan."

* * *

Richard Woolsey had no idea what could reduce his usually calm, professional chief of medicine to hysterics. He had a feeling it had something to do with the surprise IOA visitor, who would be arriving tomorrow via the Daedalus and Stargate to get there quickly.

Once they entered his office, he motioned Jennifer to sit down. "Does this have something to do with the sudden IOA visit?"

"How did you know? Did they send you a message, too?" Jennifer asked shocked that he seemed to know what was going on.

"Only that someone was coming. Do you wish to tell me what the message said? Surely, it did not say you are being reassigned? That cannot happen without talking to me first. As your supervisor, I can assure you, I do not want to lose you," Richard said truthfully. Jennifer Keller was an asset to the expedition in every way. Her dedication and compassion were already as legendary as her predecessor, Carson Beckett. The respect and admiration by the rest of his senior team for her was just demonstrated by everyone running to her aid. Even Doctor McKay, who does not seem to respect anyone outside of his team, was quick to go to her.

"I… It," Jennifer was obviously afraid to tell him what the message said.

"Jennifer, I am your supervisor, a long-standing member of the IOA and a well-educated attorney. I might be able to help you," Richard said trying to get her to return his direct gaze.

The young woman finally looked into his eyes. He saw fear, sorrow and desperation staring back at him, nothing he was used to seeing from the usually cool physician.

"They are here to investigate my handling of Doctor McKay's illness. They apparently feel I did not do enough to protect their asset," Jennifer said quickly and with as little emotion as possible.

"What? That's… This is outrageous." Woolsey could not believe what he was hearing. "Let me get this straight, the IOA is sending a delegate to Atlantis to question your medical judgment? It better be a physician or they have no leg to stand on at all." The young woman seemed to regain a little color at his angry outburst. "Forgive me, but in my years with the IOA I have never known them to question medical treatment of patients before."

"The IOA has never been particularly happy with Carson and Doctor Weir's decision regarding me as his replacement. It was in his succession plan that he had shared with Doctor Weir. Since I took over as CMO, I got strange feedback and questions from them regarding my reports from time to time. After an incident last year that resulted in all the Atlantis personnel except Teyla and Ronon getting sick, they wanted to know why I did not immediately order a survey of the new planet for pathogens. And then, after my incident on New Athos with Teyla, they ordered weekly psyc evals for months afterward. Then they wanted to pull me after my infection earlier this year," Jennifer looked physically defeated with each announcement.

"What did Weir or Carter say?" Woolsey could not believe either woman, who wrote glowing reviews of the young doctor's work and work ethic, would not have filed a complaint. _Why didn't I know about this? I was with the IOA for years._

"I never told them. I did what was asked of me. Usually they just wanted more data on the reports. Data is something I can handle. Or I went to the evaluations as they asked. This time, they are coming to directly question me." Jennifer said in defeat. "I guess they want to escort me back. Make sure I don't steal some ancient device on the way out."

Tears welled up in the young woman's eyes again. Richard had the urge to hug her, like Doctor McKay did. She was brave and fearless when it came to protecting her patients. He saw her battle Sheppard and Ronon to protect Rodney during his illness. Then, even after they agreed against her advisement to take him to Talus with Jeannie Miller, she still went. If she had not gone, he would have died. Her desire to be with her patient until the end showed a dedication he could not imagine. "If you wish, I will help you with the hearing. It's not a trial, but there will be questions and you will need to answer them like you were in a court of law. Do you know who is coming?"

"Shen Xiaoyi," Jennifer said.

_Oh no,_ Woolsey groaned. "I know her well," he said.

"I know of her too. She is the one they send to remove people from their positions." Jennifer could not keep the tears from flowing down her cheeks. "I appreciate your offer of help, but this is my battle."

"No, as my chief of medicine, you are my asset, if I may quote you. I will not let them bully you. You did nothing wrong. You tried every treatment imaginable and then saved Doctor McKay with a cordless drill in a cave. That deserves a medal for heroism," Richard said. Already he was planning a defense in his head.

"Thank you Mister Woolsey, but I should have caught the parasite on Doctor McKay's scans right away. Then I could have operated," Jennifer said sadly.

"Do you know 100% that you could have operated? Could you calculate how small the parasite might have been on that first day? Otherwise, no one can look back and say you should have." Woolsey walked around to sit in the seat next to Jennifer. "I want to help you. This has the makings of a witch hunt and I won't allow it."

"Thank you. If you don't mind, I'd like to try to rest. Tomorrow will be a long day." Jennifer did look exhausted.

"I would like to meet with you before the inquiry to discuss how to deal with Shen," Richard said.

"Thank you Mister Woolsey." Jennifer tried to smile as she left his office.

* * *

Rodney raced through the corridors having just left Woolsey's office after a meeting with he and Colonel Sheppard. As the other two department heads, the expedition leader was hoping they would speak in Jennifer's defense. The Head of Science could not agree fast enough after he heard Woolsey's story. Jennifer had been under constant harassment by the IOA for the last year and a half and said nothing to anyone. _No wonder she had so much doubt in her abilities whenever we spoke. _The fact that the IOA wanted to use him, the man who loved this woman more than he could put into words, made him angrier than imaginable.

His first stop was his quarters where he shot off three irate e-mails to General Landry, General O'Neill and Colonel Carter. The next place he headed was the quarters of the woman he loved.

It was very late and she should be asleep, but Rodney had a feeling she was either crying or packing. After ringing the chime several times, he pulled off the panel to override the doors. Before he had to break in, the door opened to reveal Jennifer.

"Rodney? What are you doing here? It's late," the CMO said. She was dressed in a sleeveless t-shirt and pajama bottoms with her hair down from the usual ponytail. Her feet were bare and she looked like she _had_ _been_ crying again.

"Jennifer, I won't allow them to do this to you." Rodney quickly walked past her into her darkened room.

"What?" Jennifer asked looking surprised. She turned and the door slid shut.

Rodney waved his hand over a light sensor to bring up the light level. "Woolsey told Sheppard and I what is going on."

"He didn't!" Jennifer looked angry.

"We are department heads, Jennifer. Our word is worth a lot in one of these inquiries or hearings or whatever they call them," he said pacing around. He wanted to grab her into his arms again and take all the fear and sadness from her. The physicist wanted _his_ laughing, smiling, sweet friend back and he would stop at nothing to get her.

"Oh. Of course. So he told you they are…"

"Using me! Unbelievable! You saved my life! I'd be dead without you! How could they think to blame you? You didn't do anything wrong. I should have gone to you right away when I was sick and not gone on that mission." Rodney stopped pacing in front of her and finally stopped to put his hands on her shoulders. "I won't allow them to use me to discredit you. I've already sent messages to some people. I've been involved with the IOA far longer than even Woolsey. I know how to make things happen. If they think I'm too valuable for you to care for me, then maybe I'm too valuable for the IOA."

Jennifer's mouth fell open and her eyes widened as his words registered. "Rodney McKay, you are not threatening to leave if they fire me. I _won't_ allow it! You _are_ the most important person on this expedition. Without you there would have been no expedition. They would have died a couple days into it when that energy creature was let go."

Rodney was happy to see color in her face and some spirit in her eyes again. The dull, blank gaze cut into him like a knife. A smile tugged at his lips. His hands lightened their hold on her shoulders. He suddenly realized he could feel her smooth skin under his hands. Moving his hands, he felt the tension in her neck muscles. "You need to relax and get some sleep. Were you sleeping when I came?"

"What? No. Of course not. I won't sleep until this is over or maybe never again." Jennifer's shoulders slumped and her head dropped. The fire was gone already.

Rodney stared into the face he had memorized and wished he could do something for her. Jennifer closed her eyes, obviously to avoid shedding more tears. Without any active control by his brain, he lowered his head to kiss her. When their lips met, he could not help but moan a little. Her mouth was as soft and sweet as he dreamed it would be.

He must have surprised her a great deal because she pulled her head back and gasped. Her eyes were now wide open and a tremble went through her.

They stood breathing heavy and staring at each other for a second. "Jennifer, I'm really sorry. I don't know what came over me. I guess I felt… I… I should go. I'm sorry." Rodney walked away and left her alone with her thoughts.

_

* * *

What just happened?_ Jennifer was angry with herself for acting like a virginal teenager. _Rodney kissed you. You've been dying for him to notice you and kiss you and touch you and the first time he does, you jump and scream at him._

Groaning in disgust at her out of control emotions, she flopped on her bed on top of the covers. _Well, he won't care if I get thrown out now. He'll probably dial the Gate himself._

Jennifer swatted at the light to shut if off and rolled over to cry herself to sleep. If she had not been so preoccupied with the IOA inquiry and her own fear of inadequacy when it came to Rodney McKay, she would have gone after him. As it was, she figured she might as well leave with everything finished between her and Rodney before it got started.

* * *

The next morning, she took great care in getting dressed and doing her hair. She needed to look older and like a professional. Staring at the young face in the mirror, only made her realize that there was no way she was going to survive this. _At least you won't have to face Rodney again after your stupid reaction last night._

All night, she dreamed about what could have happened between them. The kiss would have led to them sitting on the sofa, which would have led to some heavy petting and then moving over to the bed. _Stop it! You barely slept, so don't fantasize about things you will never have._

"Doctor Keller?" Mister Woolsey's voice came over her radio.

"Go ahead, Mister Woolsey," Jennifer replied.

"Oh, good. You're awake. Ms. Xiaoyi has arrived early and would like the inquiry to take place at 09:00," her boss said.

"Where is it?" She asked.

"In the conference room. I'm sorry we will not get much time to talk beforehand," Woolsey said.

"That's fine, sir. I doubt we would have much to say anyways. We both know their mind is made up," Jennifer said with defeat in her voice.

"You need to stay positive and do not lose your temper. I don't think it will be a problem for you, but I needed to say it," Woolsey paused, "I need to tell you that Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay will be present. Ms. Xiaoyi wants the other senior staff members present."

Jennifer was not expecting this. To have to face Rodney while admitting she almost killed him was going to be more punishment than losing her job. Taking a deep breath to empty any more pride she had out, she replied, "Understood. I'll be there soon."

* * *

Rodney was pacing in the conference room while John sat in a chair looking relaxed. "McKay, you are going to have to hold your tongue and your temper, you know?"

"Huh, what? Oh, of course," Rodney was distracted as he thought of facing Jennifer again. _What a stupid thing to do last night? Now she won't ever talk to you again._

"I'm going to keep reminding you because you can't help Jennifer if this IOA woman throws you out," John said with concern in his voice. He suspected Rodney's feelings for Jennifer were deeper than a crush and was proven correct by his teammate's actions yesterday.

"I've already e-mailed Landry, Carter and O'Neill. The IOA will not go against the three of them. They all replied back that they will fight for Jennifer's position if it comes to that," Rodney said with some of his bravado back in his voice.

"That's good news," John said. He sat up straight in the chair and fixed a stare at his teammate before he continued. "Rodney, you do need to know something, however."

"What?" Rodney stopped pacing and looked at John.

"I think Jennifer does blame herself for what happened. Actually, I know she does. She kept saying it to me, Woolsey, Jeannie. _If only I saw the signs_…" John stopped.

"That's stupid," Rodney shot back.

"Well, I think, when you are involved, Doctor Keller doesn't quite use all her brain. If you get my drift," John said raising an eyebrow.

"What the hell are you talking about? Don't you know hints are useless on me," Rodney said as he sat down heavily in the chair next to John.

"Jennifer likes you Rodney. I think it's like the crush you had on Carter long ago."

"I can assure you, John, that Jennifer does not have a crush on me," Rodney said thinking of her rejection last night.

"I wouldn't be so sure," John started but Woolsey and Jennifer arrived with Shen Xiaoyi and another person were right behind them.

The teammates both noted that Jennifer was pale and stood rigidly. Her eyes briefly glanced at them before she took her seat next to Woolsey on the right side of the table. John and Rodney were seated at the end and Ms. Xiaoyi and the stenographer were seated across from Jennifer and Woolsey.

"Thank you for coming this morning," she said in a cold voice.

"Like we had a choice," Rodney muttered under his breath earning a glare from Shen and Woolsey. Jennifer was staring at the woman and not looking around.

"Well, we are here to discuss the recent incident involving Doctor Rodney McKay's infection by a parasite and his subsequent treatment at the hands of Doctor Jennifer Keller, Chief Medical Officer of Atlantis," Xiaoyi said.

"Excuse me," Rodney immediately interrupted.

"Yes, Doctor McKay," she said glaring.

"Isn't it an invasion of my privacy to discuss my medical conditions in a public inquiry? I am assuming this transcript will be read by many people. Aren't doctor-patient confidentiality issues involved?" Rodney asked trying his best to sound polite. _Try to explain that you…_ The angry man let his thoughts stop before he said something he should not say.

"Doctor McKay does bring up a legitimate issue that I was going to mention as well. The treatment of Doctor McKay and his illness should not be discussed outside of a medical setting," Woolsey said. "Since you are not a physician, nor in any position to question Doctor Keller's medical treatment, I think this inquiry is over."

Jennifer glanced at Rodney and she seemed to have more color in her face. Their eyes connected for a moment and Rodney winked at her. Her face reddened a bit.

"Well, this is only one in a long line of questionable judgments by the CMO of Atlantis," Shen continued obviously at a loss over this turn of events.

"But this inquiry was supposed to be about Doctor McKay. I have seen neither reprimand nor investigations into any other decisions made by Jennifer since I took over as her supervisor. Actually, I have only seen glowing recommendations from her supervisors and the other senior staff members of this expedition," Woolsey continued as he held up a folder for Shen to see.

"Perhaps, I should speak with Doctor Keller, alone," Shen said.

"Absolutely not," Rodney shouted as he jumped up. "You are not going to harass her behind closed doors. Now that we know about what you've been up to the last year…"

"Rodney!" John shouted getting up to lay a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Doctor McKay," Shen yelled. "I will have you removed if I get another outburst…"

"I'd like to see you try," Rodney sneered. "I've already gotten three replies to some message I sent all saying they won't let the IOA run Jennifer off Atlantis."

"Doctor McKay, I think you should leave."

"No," Rodney said as he crossed his arms and glared. "Not until this farce is over. Jennifer Keller is the most intelligent, compassionate and competent person you could put in this position."

Shen suddenly shifted in her chair. "Would you consider Doctor Keller a friend?"

"Absolutely," Rodney answered oblivious to the change in Shen's demeanor. It was obvious to Woolsey and Sheppard that she was going to lead him down a path he did not plan on going.

"Rodney," John shouted but it was too late.

"Would you consider Doctor Keller to be more than a friend?" Shen continued.

"Yes," Rodney said quickly causing Jennifer to whip her head around, "I mean… I meant to say… a good friend. Like…Ah...Uh… best friend."

"Do you and Doctor Keller have an intimate relationship?" Shen continued as McKay stammered and Jennifer tried to jump in. "Perhaps you two are involved? Maybe Doctor Keller's feelings for you got in the way of her judgment? Fraternization is frowned upon by the IOA like the military."

The IOA official kept on ignoring Rodney's red-faced stammering and Jennifer's attempts to interject her own voice. Woolsey and Sheppard looked at each other and shook their heads. This was getting out of control.

* * *

"Enough!" Jennifer screamed. She had watched Rodney try to get out of the hole he dug and tried not to hold too much hope in the words he said. _Once he finds out that you really did let your feelings jeopardize his life, he won't be too interested in you._ "Please, Rodney, sit down. I will answer the question you really came her to ask Ms. Xiaoyi."

"Really and what is that Doctor Keller?" Shen looked smugly at her.

"You want to know if my relationship with Doctor McKay could have impacted my judgment involving his care," Jennifer said.

"Doctor Keller, you do not have to answer that. She is not a…" Woolsey interjected.

"It's fine Mister Woolsey. I've wanted to say it for a while now." Jennifer stood facing Rodney. "Rodney, I'm sorry. You think I saved you from the parasite, but it was my fault that you had to go through the entire ordeal."

"What are you talking about?" Rodney had lowered his arms to his side and looked into her eyes.

She wanted to look away, but he needed to hear it before they fired her. "I should have reviewed your scans immediately when you returned from the planet, but I didn't."

"Why not?" His voice was soft and he raised an eyebrow.

"Because…" Jennifer tried to get it out. Looking into the blue eyes that she loved so much, as if for the last time, she quickly said it. "Because I was busy flirting with you. When you acted so nice to me and wanted me to share your dinner, I… I felt like the nerdy girl finally had the attention of the cool guy."

Jennifer had to look down and closed her eyes to keep tears from falling. Realizing everyone in the room just heard her, she felt humiliation and shame.

"Jennifer," Rodney's voice was unlike anything she ever heard from the man before.

"I'm sorry. The IOA is right. I did mess this up and it was because of how I felt about you," Jennifer turned to sit back down without looking at him._ It's over._

Before Jennifer moved very far, Rodney's arms wrapped around her and pulled her to him. Opening her eyes, she saw him lowering his face to hers. Their lips met for the second time in twelve hours only she did not pull back in fear this time. Her body took over and returned the kiss with full force, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Shen, Woolsey and even Sheppard called their names and cleared their throats, but the two scientists who had been in love for so long, would not part.

* * *

Woolsey decided they should all step outside. Shen Xiaoyi was angry, but agreed. He settled her into his office where she had an urgent message from General O'Neill waiting for her according to Amelia Banks.

Sheppard and Woolsey went to the Colonel's office and sat down.

"Who would have thought it would take the IOA to get those two to move," John said as he reclined back in his seat.

"I know. For geniuses, they are pretty thick," Woolsey replied with a smile.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Jennifer Keller was ordered not to be the sole physician of Rodney McKay any longer. If he had any serious illnesses or injuries, another physician must take care of him.

Jennifer and Rodney got married one year later in a lovely ceremony in the chapel at the SGC. John Sheppard, the Best Man, gave a toast thanking _the IOA for getting_ _his best friend off his ass and making a move on the best thing to ever happen to him_.

* * *

**A/N: As long as you read them, my muse keeps coming up with more far fetched stuff. Just a reminder the Jeannie set-up has it's own story called '_How Jennifer Keller Gained a Sister'_**


	15. Rodney's Old Flame

**A/N: Yes, it's been two years since I had one of these. For this story **_**Quarantine**_** didn't happen. I'm borrowing Doctor Ulyana Lutrova from **_**RoryFaller's**_** story **_**Rhapsody in Red Square**_**. Thanks, Betherdy Babe, for the help.**

**Spoilers for **_**Duet**_**.**

* * *

Jennifer was busy unloading a washer in the laundry room when two other women entered with small bags. There was a laundry service but the modest woman could never send her most _delicate_ items to be washed by someone else so every Friday night she did laundry.

"Da, I vorked vith him in Moscow," a tall blond woman with a thick Russian accent stated to her shorter, black-haired companion, a new linguist in Radek's department.

"Was he a jerk then? I've never heard anything good about him except that he's super smart."

"Doctor Rodney McKay is the definition of arrogant," the Russian said. "Although he vas not bad in bed."

"You slept with Rodney McKay!"

"Da. Several times." A heavy laugh filled the room.

Jennifer's eyes widened as she dropped her laundry basket spilling the contents and knelt down unnoticed by the women. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest as she imagined Rodney having sex with that woman and then finding out the woman was talking about him years later. One thing Jennifer knew about her good friend was that he was a very private person when it came to his personal life.

Even thought he'd been dating Katie Brown for months no one saw them together, not to mentioned that until Jeannie arrived last year, few knew he had a sibling. _If this woman's going to spread rumors about Rodney, I've gotta stop her._

Jennifer didn't question her natural instinct to attack. Jealous of the intimacy the Russian might have had with McKay was a tiny part, but this woman had the real potential to hurt Rodney's feelings and that was totally unacceptable.

Unable to leave without being seen, the CMO continued to kneel and listen to Ulyana-as the linguist called her-talk about Rodney's sexual prowess. When the conversation turned to Rodney's current relationships, the linguist laughingly told Ulyana about Katie Brown.

Jennifer hated Katie Brown because she was the woman Rodney wanted. The botanist was sweet and gentle in a way Jennifer could never be. Whenever the physician was around him she teased him about some strange dream he had, debated his views on anything and everything and scolded him for saying or doing the wrong thing. _Not the traits a man wants in a girlfriend._

Once the gossips left the laundry room, Jennifer hit her radio, "Laura, I need your help."

"I'm on it," Lieutenant Cadman replied.

* * *

Katie Brown stared out at the ocean from her office near the greenhouse. Doctor Ulyana Lutrova had just stopped in to have a little chat. The engineer wanted to let Katie know that she didn't come to Atlantis to rekindle a relationship with Rodney. The botanist stared in quiet shock as the Russian woman explained how she and Rodney once had a sexual relationship.

Rodney and his team were off world and not due back for another couple of days. Katie wasn't sure what to do about Doctor Lutrova's announcement, which several members of Katie's department had overheard. A deep embarrassment filled the redhead because she and Rodney hadn't had sex yet. Lutrova's comments about Rodney's _difficulties_ in certain areas were insulting so Katie wondered why this woman was telling her all these things. It was also obvious she only wanted to cause angst for Rodney when he returned, but Katie was unable to do more than say, _thanks for letting me know_.

After several minutes Katie decided that this was ultimately Rodney's problem. _He's dealt with worse things than a spiteful old girlfriend._ Nodding her head with more certainty, the botanist got back to work and left the issue of Doctor Ulyana Lutrova for her boyfriend to deal with.

* * *

"Can I ask a question?" Marie Cho said after a bite of pizza.

"Marie, you don't have to be so formal." Laura laughed as she took a drink of beer.

"Why is everyone affiliated with the _Apollo_ an ass?" the nurse said with a straight face.

The other woman gathered in Jennifer's quarters all laughed.

"You can laugh, but I'm serious," Marie continued.

"We're laughing because we agree with you," Laura said. "Every jerk I served with at the SGC is on that boat."

"They take after their CO," Lindsay Novak added. "And the rumor is Doctor Lutrova is on the Apollo because she slept with some Russian official."

"What?" Jennifer asked.

"She always attaches herself to powerful men to get ahead," Lindsay said as she took a drink of beer.

"Well, her days of getting ahead are gonna end," Jennifer said with steel in her voice. "She can't come to Atlantis and bad mouth people…"

"_People_?" Marie asked as her eyes twinkled with laughter.

"Yeah, Jen," Laura offered. "Who are you trying to kid? We all know you want to get back at her for talking about McKay."

"Rodney's got a girlfriend," Marie reminded. "Why don't you let her defend him?"

"Katie would never confront anyone. She's too nice. Rodney's my friend and I don't like anyone spreading rumors about my friends. Especially when they're not here to defend themselves." Jennifer crossed her arms and glared at the other women to challenge her.

"So you're McKay's champion?" Laura asked.

Jennifer continued to glare. "Rodney's with Katie. He's just my friend."

"Laura forced him into that relationship," Marie said as she cocked an eyebrow at the Marine.

"I nudged him." Laura looked away form the others and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Rodney's with Katie. That's a fact. He's my friend and I know he'll be furious to have personal things from his past paraded around the base. So what are we going to do to stop this woman?" Jennifer said.

The other women all exchanged glances as Jennifer concentrated on getting more pizza. They were an unusual assortment: a female Marine, a physician from Wisconsin, the most senior nurse and Head of Engineering from the _Daedalus_. There was no way they should be friends, but they were…because of Jennifer Keller.

A knock at the door caused them to look up.

"Who's that?" Lindsay asked.

"I asked Katie to come," Jennifer said as she stood and walked to the door of her quarters.

"_What_?" Marie exclaimed.

"She _is_ Rodney's girlfriend," Jennifer offered.

* * *

Katie Brown was shocked at the plotting that she just put an end to. As the botanist returned to her quarters from her encounter with Doctors Keller and Novak, Marie and Lieutenant Laura Cadman, she contemplated the evening's conversation.

Doctor Lutrova's gossiping made its way to the other woman, which horrified her, but not as much as the reaction it inspired. Jennifer wanted to confront the Russian, Cadman and Marie had a slew of pranks that could be played on the Apollo engineer-putting _Nair_ in her shampoo, putting irritable material in her laundry-and Novak even suggested modifying the transporter to send her to the farthest reaches of the base.

At first Katie was flattered Doctor Keller wanted her to come to her girl's night. The botanist avoided the CMO whenever possible. Jennifer Keller was highly intelligent, funny and beautiful, exactly the type of woman Rodney was attracted to. _I'm none of those things. _As she found herself doing since Samantha Carter took over the base, Katie wondered why the physicist was with her.

Their first few meetings came to mind. Rodney had been wandering through the new greenhouse when they literally bumped into each other. Even the botanists knew of Rodney's reputation so when he smiled and laughed it off, it left her feeling giddy.

As time went by and the incident with Laura hung over them, she thought he'd never try to see where their dinner could have led without Cadman's intervention. When they finally did start dating – dinners, movie nights and occasional walks on the pier – they talked about Rodney and his adventures. Katie was content to _see_ Pegasus through his eyes and be there when he had time for her.

The amount of time he had for her seemed to have decreased lately. Of course the war with the Replicators took a great deal of his time, but that was over. If you removed his job from the picture and his time with Sheppard, what was left should have been for his girlfriend. _Instead it's reserved for a girl who's only his friend._

Ever since Jennifer almost died on some mission with Teyla, Rodney seemed to shower the physician with attention. Katie had caught him staring at Jennifer while she ate lunch with Ronon and Teyla and she was ready to tap him before he finally heard her calling his name. It was after this that Katie developed a _minor_ dislike for the CMO.

Now that Jennifer wanted to call out the Russian to defend Rodney, it made Katie think long and hard about her relationship with the physicist and where it was going.

* * *

Katie had her entire conversation planned for the first time she and Rodney were together when he returned from his mission. Unfortunately he returned early, ran into Ulyana in the control room and a firestorm erupted. The botanist heard about it from Doctor David Parrish after he rushed in to see her. He'd said that Rodney had gone to the infirmary when it was over.

The botanists moved quickly through the corridors, which were abuzz with stories about Rodney and the Russian. She averted her eyes and was glad that David Parrish stayed with her as they made their way to the infirmary. His presence always calmed her, as Rodney's never did.

Once they reached the infirmary Katie asked Marie where Rodney was. The nurse looked stunned to see the botanist and waved toward an area in the back. "Doctor Keller is still with him so I'm not sure if he is taking visitors."

"Okay. I'll let him know I'm here," she replied and then turned to David. "Thanks for keeping me company."

"Uh, sure," the male botanist looked like he wanted to say something, but smiled and squeezed her hand. "If you need me for anything, I'll be in the greenhouse."

Katie felt an unusual tingling in her hand after David let go. _I don't remember that happening before._

As she approached a darkened alcove off the main infirmary where Rodney was supposed to be, she heard Jennifer speaking in a soft voice. "I'm sure she didn't count on a restraining order being enforced in another galaxy."

"Lucky we have such a stickler for the rules running security," Rodney replied in a voice Katie never heard before, it was soft and passive.

"I'll be sure to thank Master Gunny the next time I see him," Jennifer replied in a similar tone. "I should let you rest. The cold compress and relative quiet back here should help the migraine go away. I know I curl up here when I get one."

"You suffer from them too?"

"It must be the curse of a genius mind," Jennifer replied with a slight chuckle.

"No. You don't have to leave," Rodney replied. "Your voice is soothing."

Katie couldn't stay any longer. The way Rodney spoke to Jennifer brought tears to her eyes. The Rodney she dated never wanted her around when he had a migraine. He slammed the door in her face once when she tried to bring him dinner after he suffered one.

* * *

**Next Morning**

"Rodney?" Katie asked from the doorway of his office.

"Katie, is everything okay?" The physicist closed his laptop and seemed to have a slight flush to his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry I didn't…"

"Are you okay?" she asked, suddenly nervous. The botanist has stayed up late into the evening and by the time she went to bed, she had her conversation mapped out. Now that she stood before him, her greatest fear was that he'd yell at her. She'd never been witness to one of his rants but the rumors were too many to not be true.

"Yes," he replied. It was obvious he wanted to be anywhere but under steady gaze. "And you?"

"Not so good at the moment." It was always hard to hold anything back from him since he was usually so honest. To see him struggling to hide something, which Katie was certain she could identify with, gave her the courage she needed. "We need to talk."

"That doesn't sound good." He stood up straighter and crossed his arms.

"It doesn't have to be bad," she replied, trying to smile. "I'm sorry this had to happen now. I mean after what happened yesterday, which doesn't…"

"You're dumping me!" he shouted. An angry expression took up residence. "It's because of that-that Siberian wench. She took advantage of me. I was upset about my assignment. She used…"

"Rodney, please stop. I will admit she was the catalyst but something else sent me here this morning." Katie interrupted. His ego demanded he act upset, but she could see his heart wasn't in it. Relief was the major emotion she gleaned from the physicist, which was what she hoped he would feel. _Now he's free to pursue the woman of his dreams._

"Catalyst. What…"

"Rodney, stop," Katie snapped harshly. "You know we've been doomed from the start since when our first kiss was forced by another taking possession of you."

Rodney sat down and looked defeated. "You're right. Cadman messed stuff up, but… well… I thought we moved beyond that."

"Oh Rodney, you don't think we have a future any more than I do." Katie hoped she wasn't wrong about her assumptions that she made last night as cross across from him.

"We-we don't?" he stammered as his eyes fell to the desk.

"Rodney, we don't have a future because you're in love with someone else."

Rodney nearly tipped over in his stool and Katie couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Jennifer couldn't do it. She couldn't sit in the mess hall and watch Katie and Rodney laughing while they ate. When David Parrish sat with them, Jennifer thought that Rodney was going to leave and allow her to eat in peace but he didn't.

"Looks like Katie survived _Ivana Hump-a-lot_," Cadman stated.

Lindsay blew milk her nose and Marie pushed the Marine in the shoulder and nodded towards Jennifer.

"I need to go." Jennifer got up and headed to get rid of her trash.

"Jennifer," Rodney called somewhat breathlessly.

"Rodney." Jennifer couldn't ignore him even if he was going to ask her opinion on what to name his children with Katie. "How are you feeling this morning?" She turned to face him and saw fear in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"N-n-nothing, I…"

"Did something happen with Doctor Lutrova? I'm glad to see you with Katie. I was afraid she might have done something to damage your relationship." Jennifer was concerned for the man she loved. He seemed to really want things to work with Katie, so Jennifer would help him with that relationship even though it would kill her inside.

"She did."

* * *

Katie noticed Jennifer leaving the mess hall and nearly shouted at Rodney to make a move.

David chuckled from Katie's side. "What do you think he'll do?"

"I told him to do something from the heart, but not to take as long as he did asking me out after the Cadman incident," she replied, hoping that Rodney believed her when she told him how Jennifer had a crush on him. The way his eyes lit up told her that she was correct in assuming he returned the interest.

"Sometimes going after the one you want is so frightening that you settle for the one you have even when you know it's not right."

Katie's eyebrows rose as she stared at her best friend. "That's really deep, David."

"Read it in a self-help magazine."

Tears streamed out of Katie's eyes as she grabbed his hand. "I'll stop picking on you about those articles."

David returned the pressure on her hand and suddenly gasped, "Wow."

"What?" Katie swung around to follow David's eyes.

Everyone in the mess hall watched in stunned silence as Rodney and Jennifer kissed long and hard in front of the exit. A single person started clapping to break the silence.

Katie and David looked to the back of the mess hall to see Master Gunny Richards standing next to his chair. Within seconds the mess hall was full of cheering, catcalls and fists pounding on tables.

Once the couple came up for air, Laura Cadman's voice rose about the noise, "Way to go, McKay. That was almost as good as the one we laid on Carson."

* * *

**A/N: I'll let you all imagine what happened with Rodney and his old flame. I realize this one is a stretch but it's been bugging me for a while and my conscience demanded I stop being nasty to Katie. **

**The prank ideas are courtesy of a friend, who shall remain nameless to protect her identity ;-)**


End file.
